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Sophisticated infotainment systems, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot monitoring are increasingly common in cars today. The proliferation of automotive electronics and other “smart” features has increased the market for automotive semiconductor devices and the number of sensors per vehicle. Yet, more chips and greater functionality translate to further networking/communications activity within the car, and that raises the prospect of potentially serious errors.

As the electronic content in vehicles increases, demand for automotive sensor applications will continue to grow unabated. While certain types of sensors such as oil pressure, coolant temperature, vehicle speed and fuel level sensors have long been featured inside vehicles, new applications are emerging, particularly in engine management and safety-related areas. Overall, demand for sensors is driven by the need to build cleaner, safer, more reliable, fuel efficient, convenient, and comfortable cars. But cost is also a major consideration. In this second edition reviewing the key market drivers for automotive sensors, the author extends and updates the analysis originally published in 2004, and reviews the trends in the intervening eight years. It provides an authoritative overview of the technology issues (both present and future) as well as detailed market information for each of the sensor categories covered.

Two major concerns for automotive engineers are how best to maximize fuel economy and to reduce emissions. Powertrain sensors, which measure temperature, pressure, rotational speed and other vehicle performance parameters, are central to both. There is also a trend in the powertrain sensor industry toward higher temperature and electromagnetic compatibility requirements, due largely to the increasing deployment of smaller engines.

Electrical and electronic reliability is a critical issue for automakers and suppliers as well as car buyers and dealers. The burden of reliability falls most heavily on automotive E/E engineers, system and software developers, component suppliers, and tools vendors. This book explores ways that the automotive industry continues to add E/E features while maintaining if not improving overall reliability. This book helps executives, decision-makers, and managers to quickly grasp the key drivers associated with E/E reliability in the automotive market. Academics who teach electronics and automotive engineering will also be interested in the book, as well as those in government who legislate and regulate automotive electronics. Author John Day interviewed nearly 50 experts on all facets of E/E systems and reliability during preparation of this manuscript. In addition, he culled information from press releases and presentations.