Components

Adaptive front lighting system

Headlamp modules with 24 Oslon compact light-emitting diodes (LEDs) use UX:3 chip technology to achieve high luminous efficacy even at high currents. At 1.6mm x 1.2mm the compact LED systems can be arranged close to one another in the headlight with a high degree of flexibility. These LEDs provide the basis for adaptive front lighting systems (AFS).

Car manufacturers use a camera mounted on the windshield to cover the area in front of the vehicle. Four controllers in the vehicle perform calculations 100 times per second to determine the best lighting for the driver. LED-based adaptive lighting systems enable the road ahead to be automatically illuminated with bright light and with precisely controlled distribution without dazzling other road users. Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz has opted for the AFS system in its next-generation CLS.

µAFS project
Supported by the German government, Osram Opto Semiconductors and its partners on the µAFS research project are developing new LED systems to support adaptive lighting. In October, researchers developed a new chip with an array of 256 pixels. In previous lighting solutions, one pixel corresponded to one LED component or one chip. Packing more pixels onto a single chip simplifies LED packaging for headlamps and makes systems more controllable.

Osram Opto Semiconductors
www.osram-os.com

Digital audio bus technology

The AD2410 transceiver is the first in a family of devices that enables Analog Device’s Automotive Audio Bus (A2B), which reduces the weight of cable harnesses, resulting in improved vehicle fuel efficiency while delivering high fidelity audio. The AD2410 transceiver also eliminates the need for microcontrollers with large memories in existing digital bus architectures.

The AD2410 provides 50Mbps of data bandwidth and support for up to 32 discrete upstream and downstream audio channels. All standard audio sampling rates are supported for daisy-chaining of multiple AD2410 slave devices to a single master. The system delay is fully deterministic at all slave nodes, making the AD2410 suited for active noise cancellation, in-car communications, and microphone beam forming. The AD2410 reduces audio system eBOM costs by providing a phantom power capability to all slave nodes, eliminating the need for a local power source. The AD2410 meets all relevant automotive ESD, EMI, and EMC requirements.

The transciever operates across the extended automotive temperature range (-40°C to 105°C) and is fully AEC-Q100 qualified. The AD2410 also includes extensive diagnostic capabilities enabling the identification of system-related failures. The transceiver is fully configurable using ADI’s SigmaStudio graphical development tool.

See more
For a video demonstrating Analog Devices’ A2B system visit http://bit.ly/1toefP2.

Analog Devices Inc.
www.analog.com

Heavy-duty drivelines

High-capacity Permalube RPL35 and RPL35SD drivelines are engineered for line-haul and heavy-service truck applications in North and South America. The RPL35, when combined with an RPL25 inter-axle, is designed to handle the higher torque imposed on drivelines from down-speeding engines for fuel economy in line-haul applications. Down-speeding is a current trend employing direct-drive transmissions and fast axle gear ratios to maintain vehicle road speed at lower engine rpm.

The RPL35SD is designed for heavy-haul and three-axle (tridem) applications with GCW ratings ranging from 140,000 lb to 190,000 lb. Both drivelines incorporate European-style flange connections for secure transfer of torque and ease of installation and removal.

Meritor
www.meritor.com

Entry level automotive SoCs

The R-Car E2 automotive systems on chip (SoCs) and R-Car E2 software development board deliver optimized infotainment and display audio for entry-level integrated cockpit systems that support smartphone interoperability. When combined with other Renesas R-Car series devices, they help achieve the scalability required for integrated cockpit systems from entry-level to high-end models.

Optimized for display audio and entry-level integrated cockpit systems – The 2 + 1 CPU configuration consists of dual ARM Cortex-A7 CPU cores, optimized for low power consumption and high performance, and a single SH-4A CPU core. This configuration delivers about four times the performance of the earlier R-Car E1. R-Car E2 does not need heat sinks or fans, reducing system costs.

Scalable – The Cortex-A7 CPU core is binary-compatible with the Cortex-A15 CPU core used in high-end products (the R-Car H2 and R-Car M2), and the functional IP modules and memory maps are also identical. This allows use of the same drivers and middleware. Manufacturers can develop a unified software stack, reducing development times and costs.

Renesas Electronics Corp.
www.renesas.com

In-car Ethernet capability

The smart application blueprint for rapid engineering (SABRE) for auto infotainment (AI) development system uses

Freescale Semiconductors’ i.MX 6 series applications processors to speed and simplify Ethernet audio-video bridging (AVB). The development system helps connect a broad array of onboard multimedia nodes using automotive-grade Ethernet components and is optimized for hardware/software integration. AVB Ethernet software stacks have been engineered to work with the development system’s hardware.

The system can save OEMs hardware system cost and cabling weight by leveraging Ethernet AVB using two-wire CAN cabling to replace more expensive connectivity technologies. SABRE AI supports 100Mbps automotive Ethernet physical interfaces and multi-port switches to allow customers to design for specific needs.

Hardware components
SABRE AI includes SABRE Automotive Rev2 CPU cards with i.MX 6Quad and i.MX 6DualLite applications processors (MCIMX6QAICPU2, MCIMX6DLAICPU2) and a flexible Ethernet expansion header supporting:

• Atheros Gb PHY (software compatible with CPU1 systems)
• 10/100 Broadcom BroadR-Reach PHY
• 10/100 Broadcom BroadR-Reach 4-port switch
• Silicon-Aware AVB software

Freescale Semiconductor
www.freescale.com/sabreai