IAR adds static analysis and firmware integration for Renesas RX chips

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

IAR Systems has launched a new version of its Embedded Workbench for the Renesas RX family of controllers that includes extended static code analysis through the powerful add-on tool C-STAT and the ability to easily import Renesas Firmware Integration Technology (FIT) modules.

The highly requested tool C-STAT is fully integrated in version 2.90 of the complete C/C++ compiler and debugger toolchain and performs advanced static analysis on the source code level. The updated version adds approximately 150 new checks to the existing wide range of checks, including 90 new MISRA C:2012 checks and two new packages of checks. 

Several new options are also available, for example the possibility to enable or disable the false-positives elimination phase of the analysis as well as to exclude files from the analysis. It not only aids developers in ensuring the code quality early in the development cycle, it also detects defects, bugs, and security vulnerabilities as defined by CERT C/C++ and the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), as well as helps keeping code compliant to coding standards like MISRA C:2004, MISRA C++:2008 and MISRA C:2012.

Renesas FIT is a technology that simplifies development of RX-based applications and improves portability between RX microcontrollers. It consists of a Board Support Package (BSP), peripheral function modules, middleware modules, and interface modules. The latest version of IAR Embedded Workbench for Renesas RX adds a tool for easy import of FIT modules. With this new integration, developers can use the imported FIT modules in IAR Embedded Workbench without having to make any adaptions to the imported code.

IAR Embedded Workbench for Renesas RX offers the IAR C/C++ Compiler, assembler, linker, library tools and the C-SPY Debugger in one single IDE. It provides everything developers need to create smaller, faster, and smarter code for all Renesas RX MCUs. 

www.iar.com/iar-embedded-workbench/tools-for-rx

Japanese taxis show how IoT changes the way technology rolls out

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

In an example of how the IoT is changing the relationship of technology suppliers and customers, VIA Technologies is working with the  Japan Taxi Co for a Smart IoT Mobility System that integrates communication and connectivity features.

The new face of IoT development

The Smart IoT Taxi System comprises a ruggedised small form factor VIA AMOS-825in-vehicle system (below) and a 7” touch panel display, and has been finely tuned to withstand the rigors of the road through a number of key enhancements, including: 

• 9-36V voltage input and wide temperature range
• Sophisticated power-management
• Ignition-controlled quick boot
• Withstands 7G shock and 70G vibration
• GPS location tuning for pinpoint tracking and navigation
• CAN bus support for the future capture of critical vehicle data such as speed and fuel consumption

The ruggedised small form factor VIA AMOS-825 in-vehicle system used by Japan Taxi 

The system was developed by combining the automotive industry expertise of Japan Taxi, the IT subsidiary of Nihon Kotsu, which is the leading taxi group in Japan in terms of revenue, and the hardware development capabilities of VIA to integrate the CAN and GPS requirements. This specification then opens up new IoT app implementations, both locally and in the cloud. 

This enables operators to enhance passenger convenience and safety while simultaneously reducing costs through the implementation of smart fleet management and the development of new on-demand passenger services.

New IoT apps locally and in the cloud supported by a ruggedised VIA system

“The Smart IoT Taxi System provides the perfect illustration of the innovation that can be achieved when two companies leverage their respective domain expertise to meet rapidly-changing market needs,” said Richard Brown, VP International Marketing at VIA Technologies. “With our customisable in-vehicle system platforms, we are committed to providing commercial transportation customers throughout the world with proven ultra-reliable solutions that can be rapidly tuned to meet their exact requirements.”

“Thanks to our close cooperation with VIA, we can now provide operators with the smoothest path for adding smart IoT functionality to their vehicles so that they can deliver innovative new passenger services,” commented Mr. Tomoya Yamamoto, Lead Engineer, Japan Taxi Co., Ltd. “The launch of this system is the first step in our long-term vision of accelerating the transition to smart on-demand transportation.”

SanDisk moves automotive smart storage features into industrial and IoT

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

SanDisk has developed remote monitoring capabilities for its SD cards for the connected car market that it is also moving into the industrial market for the Internet of Things (IoT). The new cards, with densities up to 64Gbytes, includes a suite of built-in smart features that enhance reliability and allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to better manage their storage in data-intensive environments

“The ‘Internet of Things’ is the most dynamic force to impact the automotive and industrial markets in a decade, driving exciting new opportunities for connectivity as well as new challenges for how to store, process and manage the data it creates,” said Oded Sagee, senior director of connected solutions at SanDisk. “Our newest SanDisk Automotive and SanDisk Industrial flash storage solutions are ideal for connected applications in these markets, offering exceptional dependability and performance as well as new smart features that enable our OEM customers to better maximize their storage.”

The new SD card has enhanced power failure protection, a memory health status monitor, OEM customization capabilities, and enhancements for read-intensive applications, such as navigation. With these features, automotive manufacturers can designate and program a SanDisk Automotive SD card for use exclusively with a specific connected application. Manufacturers can also remotely and proactively monitor the easily removable SD card to ensure that it is operating at its ideal performance level or to identify when card upgrades or replacements are needed.

The new smart features will also be available in SanDisk Industrial and SanDisk Industrial XT SD card solutions. These industrial-grade cards are intended for use by OEMs in market segments that demand high endurance and reliability even in extreme temperatures, including factory applications, industrial computing, utilities, medical equipment, robotics, point-of-sale solutions, large-scale printing, and many other applications. The inclusion of the new features enables OEMs to better manage the intensive data demands of a variety of applications in the industrial market, from commercial drones to industrial gateway systems to security cameras and more.

This is driven by the high volumes from automotive connectivity, with more and more connected vehicles expected to be on the road over the next few years that will require storage. According to Gartner Research, by 2020:

• the connected cars installed base will be more than nine times larger than that of 2015'
• 80% of all new vehicle models in mature markets will have data connectivity; 30% of connected-vehicle models will have built-in, function-level, over-the-air software update capabilities;” and
• well over one billion connected automotive subsystems will be shipped.

The AEC-Q100 certified SanDisk Automotive SD card enables OEMs to bring intelligent, reliable and high-capacity data storage to a wide array of advanced, in-vehicle applications and systems, such as 3D and HD navigation and mapping systems, data event recorders, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), telematics and more. The automotive grade SD card is built to meet the intense reliability and quality requirements.

Samples of SanDisk Automotive, SanDisk Industrial and SanDisk Industrial XT SD card solutions with the new smart features will be available in March in the United States and Europe, in capacities up to 64GB

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Key deal sees access to the heart of an SoC for embedded debug

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

UltraSoc integration enables vendor-independent debug within industry standard toolchain

A key deal for embedded chip designers and developers sees UltraSoC and Lauterbach collaborating on a powerful, fully-featured independent system-on-chip (SoC) development and debug environment. 

Combining Lauterbach’s TRACE32 integrated, universal development system with UltraSoC’s on-chip debug and analytics IP has the potential to dramatically ease the work of engineering teams creating the advanced SoCs needed in industries as diverse as mobile communications, automotive and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Today’s silicon chips can incorporate over a billion transistors and are constructed from many tens of different functional blocks, mixing purchased processor cores, IP re-used from previous designs, and custom logic developed by the design team itself; they also run substantial amounts of software. This complexity makes it very difficult to understand the behavior of the complete system when it is finally pieced together – even for the engineers who designed and developed it. This in turn can lead to chips that do not deliver the expected performance, or contain hard-to-find bugs, leading to significant extra engineering costs, products that miss their market window, and occasionally even field failures. UltraSoC and Lauterbach’s collaboration addresses these problems.

TRACE32 is a set of modular embedded development tools with integrated debug environments that support all of the processor architectures commonly used in the market today. UltraSoC’s IP works inside the SoC itself, monitoring and analyzing the real-world behavior of any on-chip structure – and the device as a whole – non-intrusively and at wire speed. Together, TRACE32 and UltraSoC’s IP give design teams complete visibility of the real-world behavior of their devices – vital in the debugging process which can consume up to half of the total development effort for a typical SoC.

“The combination of TRACE32 and UltraSoC is a powerful one," said Norbert Weiss, head of sales and marketing at Lauterbach. "This allows users of our tools to gain an intimate understanding of the behavior of the whole of the SoC, including all the on-chip structures such as busses and custom logic, in addition to our existing support for all of the common embedded processors. UltraSoC’s message-based on-chip infrastructure and high-speed external interface capabilities – USB for example – open up a range of new possibilities for users of our development tools.”

The TRACE32 debug tools provide quick, effective debugging for more than 80 processor architectures, with full support for the entire debug process, including run control, OS-support, multicore debugging and on-chip trace. The debugger supports multiple programming languages, most compilers and hosts, and a broad variety of multicore architectures. Interfacing the UltraSoC on-chip debug and analytics fabric with TRACE32 gives users full control over the debug features of UltraSoC’s silicon IP, and full access to the information generated by the company’s range of on-chip monitors and analytics engines.

As well as connecting externally with the debug host, the UltraSoC architecture includes an on-chip message-based interconnect, and allows monitoring of any third party processor core, bus or custom logic block. This ability to create a holistic, overarching development and analytics solution is key to solving the tricky problems posed by heterogeneous multi-core SoCs running complex software.

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Conexant sold off to SMSC

Creates group with 900 mixed signal engineers
By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

How are the mighty fallen. The once powerful embedded chip maker Conexant Systems - spin off of Rockwell and dominant supplier of modem chips - is to be sold off to up and coming chip maker SMSC of New York.
Conexant leaves the industry with a string of legacies through a number of spin offs, from foundry Jazz to telecom chip maker MindSpeed, but the core of chips for imaging, audio, embedded modem, and video surveillance applications will go to to SMSC in a deal valued at approximately $284 million including the assumption of Conexant’s net debt. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
The company had been selling off parts of the business for several years, and last month sold property next to its Newport Beach, California, headquarters for $23m

Combined Company Highlights:

• Creates a stronger analogue/mixed-signal R&D team with over 900 engineers globally,
• Complementary connectivity product portfolios to target more expansive set of computing, consumer, industrial and automotive applications,
• Serves key customers with more complete product solutions,
• Combined company has the scale and resources to enhance SMSC’s finances with a combined revenue of $632m,
• Anticipated cost cutting of $8 to $10m by the end of SMSC’s fourth quarter

The combination of Conexant’s imaging, audio, embedded modem and video products with SMSC’s broad connectivity solutions targeting the computing, consumer, industrial and automotive markets provides for a highly complementary merger of talent and technology. Conexant has approximately 600 employees worldwide, including over 230 in Asia.
“We believe that combining the growth potential of Conexant and SMSC will allow us to leverage complementary technology and engineering resources to provide our customers with expanded solutions in connectivity and content,” said Christine King, President & Chief Executive Officer of SMSC. “We plan to focus our resources on the areas of highest return and believe that our respective sales and supply chain relationships will help create a platform to grow our businesses. In addition, we expect to capture significant operating efficiencies that will position us to increase earnings growth. SMSC’s larger scale should position us to increase our R&D productivity and drive profitability and shareholder value.”
“In our industry, size and scope provide a significant advantage with customers and suppliers," said Scott Mercer, Conexant's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "SMSC and Conexant share similar core competencies in analog and mixed-signal design, possess complementary product portfolios, and count many customers in common. By joining forces, we get the opportunity to take advantage of economies of scale and drive profitable growth."
Sailesh Chittipeddi, currently President & Chief Operating Officer at Conexant, will join SMSC upon close of the acquisition as Executive Vice President, reporting to Christine King. Mr. Chittipeddi’s responsibilities will include all product lines and global marketing and engineering functions for SMSC.

Researchers hack cars

Researchers hack cars' computers - The Inquirer




All the details are at the FAQ here alog with the orginal paper

CSR gains as NXP takes top spot in automotive infotainment silicon

NXP Semiconductors in 2009 took the top position in the global automotive infotainment semiconductor market according to market researchers iSuppli, the first time the company has held the top spot since the company began tracking the area in 2005.

NXP in 2009 posted automotive infotainment semiconductor revenue of $291 million. While this total was down 24.8 percent from $387 million in 2008, No. 2 STMicroelectronics also saw a significant fall in its revenue, declining by 37.4 percent if compared to 2008. As a result, NXP was able to displace STMicroelectronics as the world’s leading infotainment chip supplier. NXP’s share of the global market for infotainment semis amounted to 11.5 percent in 2009, while STMicroelectronics accounted for 10.9 percent. 

Maintaining its No. 3 position was Panasonic with revenue of $193 million, down 36.3 percent year-on-year, while Renesas Technology stayed in the No. 4 slot with revenue of $191 million.

The only market share gainer for the year was UK-based Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR), which in 2009 merged with U.S. GPS and multimedia baseband provider SiRF. The combined operation pushed CSR into the No. 5 slot in 2009 with revenue of $167 million, up from 15th place in 2008.

Outside the top five, Japanese audio and FM tuner supplier ROHM stood at No.6 with annual revenue declining by less than most of its competitors to $140 million in 2009, down 9.7 percent from 2008. Positions six through 10 were dominated by Japanese semiconductor manufacturers, with the exception of Texas Instruments (TI). TI moved up one position from ninth to eighth with revenue of $80 million in 2009.

Japanese manufacturers accounted for 34 percent of global infotainment semiconductor revenue in 2009, while European-based manufacturers accounted for 32 percent. In contrast, American-based manufacturers accounted for just 11 percent of the global total in 2009.

Vehicle production troubles suppress market opportunities

“Clearly, the general market suffered badly from the automotive downturn of 2009 with overall automotive infotainment semiconductor revenue down 20.3 percent to just slightly more than $2.5 billion, compared to $3.2 billion in 2008,” said Richard Robinson, principal analyst for automotive infotainment at iSuppli. “Most companies in the supply chain posted revenue declines between 20 percent and 35 percent, with even the large established silicon players taking hits and suffering losses. Companies were impacted as vehicle production in

Japan was slashed by nearly 34 percent, while the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region experienced an unprecedented fall in production of 23 percent. The U.S. market was also another casualty with vehicle production falling by 25 percent.”

In spite of these tough numbers, companies that had good exposure to the Chinese vehicle production bonanza of 2009 were able to keep pushing against a strong headwind in the overall market.

“With vehicle production growth up by more than 34 percent year-on-year in China in 2009, NXP was able to take advantage of this regional bubble with a comprehensive range of specialist and commodity AM/FM tuner and audio processing products, as well as a significant showing in audio amplifiers,” Robinson added. “NXP maintained its 56 percent market share of the global AM/FM tuner/audio processing market, generating more than $200 million in 2009.”

Related articles

• Worldwide semiconductor revenue down 10.5 per cent (newstatesman.com)
• Can Chipmaker NXP's $1.15 Billion IPO Warm Up a Chilly Market? (dailyfinance.com)

Microtune plans DAB SDR chip

Microtune is planning to develop a version of its software defined radio chip for the DAB standard used across Europe.
The current version supports AM/FM and HD radio but not DAB, making it a potial problem for equipment makers for the European market. The problem is that some key European countries such as Germany use the higher frequency L band. THis can be supported with a separate receiver chip, linked to the same disgial signal processor chip, still reducing the complexity and bill of materials, but not as much as a fully integrated solution.
"We have a tuner subsystem that's a discrete solution that sends data to the same DSP and the DAB data is demodulated in software on that DSP," said Peter Kipfelsberger, automotive marketing director at Microtune. "For L band it needs to be a separate tuner IC and that makes it difficult from a tuner perspective. But we are targetting a similar solution and we expect volumes to increase over the next year and we have plans to design a similar product for DAB."

SDR comes to radio and TV

Microtune has developed a chip architecture that brings Software Defined Radio (SDR) to car radios.
The MT3511 RF MicroDigitizer provides a flexible RF front end for many different standards and is coupled with a digital signal processor for a low cost implemention in a car radio.
For automotive manufacturers, software defined radio (SDR) represents a revolutionary approach to in-vehicle car entertainment, connectivity and multimedia. It enables them to flexibly deliver the most popular consumer features ­AM/FM, digital radio, CD audio, MP3 playback, navigation, as well as connectivity for iPod®, SD card, USB and Bluetooth by using common hardware that is configurable, scalable and upgradable via software. SDR solutions dramatically change ‘infotainment’ business, design and manufacturing models. This technology offers car makers a global radio platform, increased design flexibility, substantial cost-efficiencies and a future-proof migration path to new standards and enhanced features.
The MT3511 is a key front-end component in the SDR architecture. It combines the functions of a state-of-the-art RF tuner and an advanced analogue-to-digital converter in a single miniature chip­it receives and tunes a broadcast signal from a car antenna, and then converts the signal from analog to digital format for processing in software by a DSP or multimedia processor. It also supports world-standard AM/FM, HD Radio technology, digital radio mondiale (DRM), and weather band, and a DAB version with support for the higher frequency L band is being considered.
The advantage is that it replaces multiple hardware-specific components in today’s radio subsystem with a generic hardware platform that reduces design complexity, time-to-market, time-to-qualification and costs.
“For decades, leading automotive manufacturers and Tier-1 suppliers have used Microtune radio and TV tuners to migrate compelling consumer-class entertainment to the car,” said James Fontaine, President and CEO of Microtune. “We are now introducing a single-chip RF-to-digital converter that will help drive software defined radio throughout the auto industry as a practical mainstream technology. The MT3511 will be a key enabler for the future of in-vehicle audio and multimedia, while it fuels growth and opportunity for our Company across the worldwide automotive entertainment markets.”
“Software defined radio has been the holy grail of the automotive industry,” said Paul O’Donovan, analyst, Gartner Research. “While car makers have been eager to deploy the SDR concept, the baseline hardware technology required to navigate commercial cost sensitivities and the stringent automotive quality and manufacturing requirements has not been available. Modern multimedia or DSP processors are now increasing in computer power, allowing the complete processing of radio signals in software, while providing the necessary connectivity features. SDR applications also demand a new kind of front-end technology, such as the MT3511, that can receive and digitize radio broadcast signals across the fast-changing signal environment of the moving vehicle.”

Key Features

The MT3511 is characterized by very high RF-to-bits performance, a high level of integration, low cost and very low profile. With its high sensitivity, high linearity, and configurable, fully autonomous automatic gain control circuit, the MT3511 is engineered to deliver stable, clear digital intermediate frequency (IF) signals. It offers the system designer the flexibility to configure solutions for even the most challenging reception environments, while enabling high-quality radio sound and multimedia within the SDR system.
As a key feature, the MT3511 is optimized to work in the digital domain of the SDR architecture and supports on-board designs with minimal external components. It is engineered to support block-oriented processing, and combined with a patented approach for generating a manageable data rate, it frees the microprocessor to focus on other tasks, including display, connectivity, traffic management and GPS. In effect, the MT3511 enables the microprocessor to manage its resources more effectively and efficiently, a key factor in overall SDR performance.

Other features include:
· Very low phase noise
· Fully-autonomous tuning-control engine
· Integrated high-performance 16-bit ADC with self-calibration and digital error correction
· Automatic data synchronization for FM phase-diversity applications
The MT3511 is the first member of the Automotive RF MicroDigitizer family, and future products will support new digital standards with even higher levels of integration. A complete technical description is provided in the MT3511 Product Brief.
As with Microtune’s other automotive products, the MT3511 is engineered to operate in the harsh vehicular environment, meeting the unique challenges of temperature and long product-life times as compared to consumer products. Developed to meet stringent automotive specifications, it supports temperatures from -40 to +85°C, and is designed to be qualified according to the requirements of the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) Q100.
The MT3511 is currently sampling to key customers and is priced at $3.50 in volumes of 100,000/year.

$2 TV chip

It has also developed world-standard radio frequency (RF)-to-baseband IC, based on the new architecture. The MT3141 single chip enables TV manufacturers to use a smaller, higher-performance and more cost-effective receiver across their next-generation global digital television designs. Using Microtune’s MT3141, manufacturers can build thinner, lighter digital TVs that deliver premium performance for all brands, models, price points and screen sizes.
The MT3141 is:
· A miniaturized RF-to-baseband single chip that combines the functions of an RF tuner, analog TV demodulator, intermediate frequency (IF) filters and amplifiers in a 6 mm x 6 mm IC.
· The only receiver engineered to exceed the RF performance requirements of worldwide analog/digital broadcast and cable standards*, including those for China’s new CTTB (also known as DTMB or DMB-T) and Europe’s next-generation DVB-T2 requirements.
· Tiny enough for the lightest ‘picture on a wall’ TVs, but packs the performance to put a superb TV picture on the biggest wide screen.

At $2.00 in high volumes, the MT3141 breaks through price, performance and size barriers to enable TV manufacturers finally to deploy an advanced silicon receiver in an unified high-quality front-end across all next-generation television platforms.

“Faced with increasing complexity, shrinking ASPs, divergent broadcast standards, and the need to differentiate, TV manufacturers have been looking for a new class of world-standard electronics,” said James Fontaine, President and CEO of Microtune. “Yet across all these factors, manufacturers and consumers are driven by TV picture quality. With our MT3141, manufacturers can drive world-class receiver performance into global TVs, while reducing their footprint, design effort and manufacturing costs.”

Mr. Fontaine added, “Our highly integrated receiver provides the compelling price/performance to finally fuel the TV industry migration from traditional can tuners to silicon solutions, while taking digital TV into the future.”

Unmatched Performance Based on MicroCeiver™ Architecture
Based on new MicroCeiver technology, the MT3141 is a complete RF analog and digital signal processing system in a single chip. It fuses RF tuner, analog video demodulation, filter and amplifier capabilities together, erasing the distinctions across these functional boundaries. The M3141 employs internal techniques and proprietary algorithms to continuously update information about signal conditions across the signal path, optimizing performance across the entire receiver chain.

Key performance metrics include:

* Typical noise figure: 3 dB
* Video signal to noise ratio: greater than 60 dB
* Typical sensitivity ATSC: -88 dBm
* DVB-T desired to undesired signal: exceeds NorDig 2.1 specifications by greater than 10 dB

The MT3141 receiver delivers excellent sensitivity and superior adjacent channel rejection, technical metrics that directly translate into an increase in digital TV signal coverage for broadcasters and high-quality, stable TV reception for TV viewers.

MT3141 Receiver: Dramatic Integration and Cost Reduction
A single chip, the MT3141 receives all frequencies in the 44 MHz to 1.0 GHz range. It converts a selected channel either to a low-IF or to a standard IF between 4 MHz and 57 MHz, and it outputs filtered audio (SIF) and baseband video (CVBS) signals. It is characterized by a very high level of integration with minimal external bill of materials that require no active components. The MT3141 virtually eliminates an external bill of materials.

The MT3141 complies with worldwide broadcast standards* and is engineered to exceed all performance requirements published for them, including those for legacy analog TV reception (NTSC, PAL and SECAM analog television signals for off-air and cable). The transition to digital broadcast around the world is expected to continue through at least 2018. For more technical information about the MT3141, please read the MT3141 Product Brief.

Price and Availability
Offered in a 6.0 mm x 6.0 mm 40-pin QFN package, the MT3141 tuner is available now to early access customers and is priced at $2.00 in high volume. To simplify evaluation and design for qualified customers, Microtune offers a MicroCeiver MT3141 evaluation board and reference design.

Global automotive telematics market to quadruple

Boom time as 68m cars ship with telematics by 2016



Global shipments of automotive telematics systems are set to rise to 84.4 million units in 2016, up by a factor of more than four from 19.3 million in 2008, according to iSuppli.
“From sending out an automatic distress call after a car crash, to enabling remote diagnosis of engine troubles, telematics can provide enormous benefits to motorists and car makers around the world,” said Anna Buettner, analyst with iSuppli’s automotive research service. “For drivers, telematics can enhance safety, convenience and connectivity. For car OEMs, telematics can add to and improve car functionality and reduce warranty and after-sales costs. That’s why carmakers and consumers are expected to increase their adoption of telematics systems rapidly during the next seven years.”
By 2016, 68.4 million cars will ship with telematics systems installed by OEMs, up from 14.3 million in 2008. This means that 84.6 percent of all cars shipped in 2016 will incorporate telematics systems.
Aftermarket shipments of telematics systems will rise to just under 16 million units in 2016, up from slightly less than 5 million in 2008.
Beyond accident alerts and remote diagnosis, telematics functions span from the wireless integration of third-party devices, to navigation and Location-Based Services (LBS) updates, to theft detection, to engine control software revisions.
The United States is the world’s leading market for telematics in 2009, with 30 percent of all models sold in the country available with installed systems. In comparison, the next two biggest telematics nations, Germany and Italy, have only 20 percent model availability of installed telematics systems.
The U.S. leadership is due to General Motors (GM), which pioneered installed telematics in 1996 with its OnStar service. The company has made OnStar a standard feature on all its cars this year.
“With GM selling 2 million cars with installed telematics per year, competitors have been forced to react,” Buettner said. “In the intervening years, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Nissan and Toyota all launched telematics systems.”
Western European telematics volume remains low because no major OEM in the region has made the feature standard on every car. Japan also is deploying telematics in low volumes, and the applications are focused on navigation functionality and infotainment.
However, as telematics becomes more available in other regions, U.S. domination will dwindle. The United States in 2009 accounts for about half of the global installed OEM telematics market. By 2016, the United States will account for about one third of the worldwide market as shipments in other regions soar.

Embedded v. mobile device telematics

Two major types of telematics solutions are being offered on the market: embedded systems, whose functionality is integrated into the headunit of cars; and mobile-device oriented systems, which use a wireless product like a cell phone to communicate information.
Both embedded and mobile device telematics systems are on rapid growth paths. Worldwide OEM embedded telematics systems will grow from nearly 4.8 million units in 2008 to more than 26.8 million systems in 2016.
Meanwhile, global OEM mobile device telematics systems will grow from 9.5 million units in 2008 to more than 41.5 million systems in 2016.

Atom moves into automotive

Kontron's Microspace MPCX28: in-vehicle PC with Intel Atom Z530 processor


Kontron has launched its first in-vehicle PC with extended support, based on the Intel Atom Z530 processor and Intel System Controller Hub US15W, with a flexible PC/104 socket for ultra flat and space-saving PC/104 expansion cards. Further options for customization include 2 PCIe Mini Card Slots for custom specific options such as GPS, GSM/UMTS, and WLAN.
Its fanless design, easy expandability and high flexibility make the precision Swiss-engineered Kontron Microspace MPCX28 Box PC a perfect fit for various applications in busses, cars, trucks, and (automated) heavy-duty vehicles used in intralogistics. In cabs and busses it can be used for passenger infotainment, video surveillance, or ticketing systems. Typical truck applications include CAN-based trailer and goods management, GPS navigation combined with communication via GSM, and UMTS/GPRS for fleet management. For vehicles used in intralogistics, the applications range from the control of automated vehicles, to logistics for forklift trucks with WLAN and barcode/RFID interfaces.
Designed to work in the extended temperature range -25 to 70°C, the passively cooled in-vehicle Kontron Box PC is based on the Intel Atom Z530 1.6 GHz processor with 533 MHz FSB and supports up to 1 GB DDR2 RAM. The embedded graphics feature 256MB of memory DirectX 9 3-D and HDTV support with MPEG2 and H.264 decoders to process compressed HD videos to offload CPU usage. To accommodate storage devices, it provides front side slots for a 2.5" SATA HDD or SDD and Compact Flash media. Thanks to the externally-accessible slots, the change of storage media is quick and simple without the use of tools. This makes it particularly easy to swap out the hard drive within seconds to provide new content for, e.g., infotainment applications. The internal PCI/104 and 2x PCIe MiniCard expansion slots allow for various application-specific extensions, such as Dual-CAN, GPS, GSM/UMTS, and WLAN.

Application specific expansions via ultra flat PC/104 extension cards

The Microspace MPCX28 also features a comprehensive set of interfaces to fulfill the demands of nearly all in-vehicle applications. On the front, two USB 2.0 interfaces and 3.5 mm jacks for stereo output and input are accompanied by a SIM slot for mobile communications. On the back, the new in-vehicle PC offers 2 x Gigabit Ethernet, 2 additional USB 2.0 ports, as well as an SATA port to connect additional storage devices. The DVI-I interface transmits analog or digital video signals to external monitors with a resolution of up to 2,048 x 1536. Two DSUB connectors for COM ports (RS232) and a parallel interface for digital I/O, which provide CAN-bus connectivity via an optional PCI/104 expansion card, round off the feature set.
With a wide-range power supply (8 to 58 VDC), the PC can be directly connected to the vehicle's power supply without additional converters. A plug-in power supply for 110/220 VAC is also available. The system supports remote power on/off and can accommodate customer-specific functions such as wake on ring, event wake up or a wake on LAN.
It is scheduled to be available (with CE and E1 certification) in Q1, 2010 and supports Windows XPe/XP/Vista/7, and Linux.

European car telematics market to boom

Despite the collapse of the new car market, iSuppli is predicting a boom in telematics equipment for vehicles in Western Europe over the next ten years, and the details of the usage of telematics for each brand make very interesting reading (below), particularly the relatively low levels of telematics used today.
Sales of automotive telematics systems are set to rise by a factor of five during the period from 2008 to 2016 as carmakers offer more telematics-equipped models in the region, reaching 24.8 million systems by 2016, expanding at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22.5 percent from 4.9 million systems last year.
“Automotive telematics is defined as the integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, allowing the sending and receiving of information,” said Anna Buettner, analyst for automotive electronics at iSuppli. “Telematics can provide a range of benefits to motorists, from notifying an emergency operator when a car’s airbags have been deployed, to reporting vehicle conditions to a remote monitoring center.”
Two major types of telematics solutions are being offered on the market: embedded systems, whose functionality is integrated into the headunit of cars; and mobile-device oriented systems, which use a wireless product like a cell phone to communicate information.
“iSuppli believes that embedded and mobile-device-based telematics systems will continue to coexist in the car market in Western Europe and elsewhere,” Buettner said. “Embedded solutions are suitable for high-end luxury models, while mobile-device-oriented systems can bring telematics services to high-volume, entry-level cars. Regardless of which approach is used, pipes used for communications and delivery of content will become increasingly transparent and will be modified to cater to a vast array of data types.”
GM’s telematics sales in Western Europe are projected to grow to more than 1.4 million units in 2016, rising at a CAGR of more than 41 percent from 210,000 million in 2008. GM currently offers only mobile-device-based telematics systems.
Ford is expected to introduce the Sync system in Europe in 2011. This should increase its mobile-device telematics system shipments in the region to more than 1.7 million systems in 2016, rising at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 31 percent from 190,000 in 2008.
The Japanese brands are not as strong in Europe as they are in North America, so their telematics sales will be much lower in the region. Toyota, which maintains the largest auto sales among the Japanese brands in Western Europe, will have the highest telematics sales there—growing to 990,000 units in 2016, up at a CAGR of 31 percent from 110,000 in 2008. The Japanese leader most likely will bring an embedded solution to the market in the near future.

Domestic telematics

The Top-6 European auto manufacturers collectively control about 64 percent of the Western European auto market.
PSA now has the highest telematics sales in Europe due to its use of both embedded and mobile-device systems. Company sales are forecasted to grow to 3.1 million systems in 2016, up from nearly 620,000 in 2008. Embedded systems accounted for 42 percent of PSA’s 2008 telematics sales.
VW’s telematics sales are projected to grow to nearly 3.2 million units in 2016, increasing at a CAGR of more than 26 percent from 490,000 systems in 2008. While the company’s four brands currently use only mobile device telematics systems, the German OEM is expected to introduce an embedded telematics system in the future.
Fiat’s three brands will sell 2.3 million units in 2016, up at a CAGR of 27 percent from 340,000 in 2008. Embedded systems accounted for about 20 percent of Fiat’s telematics sales in 2008.
Renault has been slow to adopt telematics and has just recently added mobile device systems. Renault’s telematics sales are projected to grow to 1.6 million units in 2016, rising at a CAGR of 30 percent from 190,000 in 2008.
The two main luxury brands in Europe, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, already sell a high percentage of their autos with telematics systems.
BMW uses both embedded and mobile device telematics systems. Company telematics sales will rise to more than 1.3 million units in 2016, up at a CAGR of 16 percent from 390,000 in 2008.
Mercedes-Benz currently sells only mobile-device telematics systems. Sales of Mercedes-Benz telematics systems are forecasted to grow to 1.4 million systems in 2016, expanding at a CAGR of almost 20 percent from 320,000 in 2008. Similar to Toyota/Lexus and Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz also is expected to introduce an embedded telematics solution for its future offerings.

True wireless speakers emerge with Audium

The main problem with "wireless" speakers is that they aren't - you end up replacing the speaker cable with a power cable, which can give you some advantages but really isn't the point.
Now, a Bristol startup aims to provide true wireless speakers with an audio amplifier that uses just 5% of the power of traditional amplifiers.
Audium Semiconductor has developed an amplifier architecture that can run for nearly a year off 4 C size batteries, with the first device, the AS1001, aimed squarely at wireless speakers. The architecture uses patented techniques to minise both fiexed power losses and output dependent variable power lossses with a low switch rate in the modulation.
"Traditionally audio amplifiers have only reached quoted efficiency figures at maximum output, which is like building a city car that's only efficeint at 200mph," said Huw Davies, chief commercial officer at Audium.
Altough 4 C sized batteries are still quite large, there is plenty of space in traditional speakers, giving them the flexibility to be placed anywhere in the house. With surround sound speakers there is a different challenge, as these are already small and adding the batteries would double the size of the units, but there are design tradeoffs there where styling will make a key difference. The rear surroundsound speakers also only account for 4 to 5% of the sound, so could use less batteries.
The company has rasied $8.5m for the design and development of the chip in 0.18um 30V digital technology at TSMC, and is planning a stereo device for wireless MP3 docking stations, and then looking at the automotive market.

Silicon microphone moves to Bosch

Akustica, developer of silicon MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) microphones for the consumer electronics market has been bought by Robert Bosch North America. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed.
Akustica, which was founded in 2001, is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and develops and sells digital and analogue micro electromechanical microphones using standard CMOS silicon technology. This approach allows the integration of transducer elements and associated integrated circuits on a single Silicon chip. Bosch is the world leader in MEMS sensors and, with this acquisition, further strengthens its position in this market.

“The strategic acquisition of Akustica with their outstanding application of sophisticated MEMS technology complements our growing semiconductor business and ideally complements our ongoing MEMS activities” said Dr. Stefan Kampmann, executive vice president, Bosch Automotive Electronics. “We look forward to working together with the Akustica team to continue to develop this important business area.”

To date Akustica, which developed and sold the world’s first digital MEMS microphone, has sold over 5 million microphones in the global market. All of the company’s 36 associates will be employed by Bosch.

According to Joseph A. Jacobson, president and chief executive officer, Akustica, Inc., “We are excited to join the market leader in MEMS sensors and be a part of Bosch's expansion in commercialization of consumer MEMS products. The strength of our combined technology, manufacturing capability, and talent will allow us to continue delivering innovative and differentiating sensor product solutions.”

Comment: However, this looks more like the inability of Akustica to raise more money in the current financial climate and not enough income to go it alone despite big early plans.

Quad DAC with EEPROM for portable apps

Microchip has developed the industry’s first 12bit Quad Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC) to include non-volatile EEPROM, enabling the DAC’s configuration to be loaded automatically during power-up. The low power of the device targets portable consumer applications such as personal media players, digital cameras and GPS devices as well as industrial and automotive.
The on-board EEPROM, coupled with an internal voltage reference, four-channel architecture and rail-to-rail precision output amplifier, enables the MCP4728 to significantly reduce the size and component cost in a variety of battery powered and power-constrained applications.
Through the integrated I2CM serial interface, designers can configure the MCP4728 input codes, configuration bits and I2C address bits. This configuration information is stored in the non-volatile EEPROM and therefore retained after power is removed, making it available immediately after power is reapplied and reconfiguring the DAC during power-up.
The architecture of the MCP4728 also allows each of the four channels to be individually shut down, reducing power consumption to as low as 40nA and helping designers to meet or exceed cost and size requirements while providing the resolution and low power consumption that today’s battery powered and power-constrained applications require. These include consumer (personal media players, digital cameras and GPS devices); medical; industrial; appliance, and automotive (LED lamps and alarm/security systems) devices.
The $15 MCP4728 Evaluation Board is available to help designers quickly evaluate the MCP4728 DAC in their applications, and the DAC is sampling now in a 10-pin MSOP package.

Intel buys Wind River

Intel is making a serious play into the truly embedded market with a $884m deal to buy real time operating system (RTOS) company Wind River Systems.
The board of directors of Wind River has unanimously approved the transaction which is expected to close this summer and then Wind River will report into Intel's Software and Services Group, headed by Renee James.
This is a key part of Intel's strategy to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server market segments into embedded systems and mobile handheld devices, and Wind River is already a close partner with Intel, making use of its hardware virtualisation technology.
Wind River will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel and continue with its current business model.
"This acquisition will bring us complementary, market-leading software assets and an incredibly talented group of people to help us continue to grow our embedded systems and mobile device capabilities," said James at Intel. "Wind River has thousands of customers in a wide range of markets, and now both companies will be better positioned to meet growth opportunities in these areas."
"As a wholly owned subsidiary, Wind River will more tightly align its software expertise to Intel's platforms to speed the pace of progress and software innovation," said Ken Klein, Wind River Chairman, president and CEO. "We remain committed to continuing to provide leading solutions across multiple hardware architectures and delivering the same world-class support to which our customers have grown accustomed."
The acquisition will deliver to Intel robust software capabilities in embedded systems and mobile devices, from in-car "info-tainment" systems and other automotive areas, networking equipment, aerospace and defence to energy and thousands of other devices.

Motorola launches high speed M2M modem

Motorola has launched a high speed Machine-to-Machine (M2M) modem that uses the HSPA protocol for 3.5G connectivity. The HSPA series of modules is comprised of the H24-Global, providing tri-band HSPA connectivity (850/1900/2100MHz); H24-Single (2100MHz); and H24-NA (850/1700/1900MHz).
The new H24 module provides HSUPA/HSDPA connectivity at 5.76Mbit/s upstream and 7.2Mbit/s downstream, enabling true mobile broadband for next generation M2M solutions like automotive infotainment systems, fixed-wireless terminals, telemetry, and advanced security systems featuring real-time video surveillance. The H24 also has on-board GPS capabilities making it the ideal solution for location-based applications. In addition, the H24 includes receiver diversity for optimal performance under harsh network conditions as well as FOTA (firmware over the air), to ensure maximum reliability.
The H24 is built in the same compact form factor as the rest of the Motorola "24" family of wireless modules to provide flexibility with a single design solution. As the entire H24 series includes quad-band GSM/GPRS and EDGE connectivity, customers can easily add HSPA connectivity to their existing G24 GSM-based solution by integrating the H24.

"The H24 HSPA module enables the M2M industry to take advantage of global 3.5G network deployment," said Shamai Wasserman, vice president, Motorola Israel & Director of Motorola Wireless Modules business unit. "The addition of 3.5G HSPA technology to the "24" family of wireless modules expands on Motorola's commitment to supporting all air interfaces with a single form factor."

Altera and National get closer on automotive

Altera has teamed up with National Semiconductor on the transmission, processing and display of digital data in automotive applications in a first step to closer cooperation.
The two have developed a reference design for graphics interconnect to run digital video in automotive infotainment and driver-assistance applications, using Altera's low-cost Cyclone 3 FPGAs and National's FPD-Link 2 embedded clock serialiser/deserialiser (SERDES). This should provide higher bandwidth over longer range with less cabling and lower electromagnetic interference (EMI), as well as increased reliability and lower system costs.
This reference design shows the transmission of a digital video bitstream over a 10-meter CAT6 cable to National's DS90C124 FPD-Link 2 deserializer. The deserializer output interfaces directly to a Cyclone 2 FPGA, which processes the incoming signals and sends the resulting video to a display.

"National has a proven track record for enabling the high-speed data link between video source and sink in automotive applications," said Erroll Dietz, vice president of National's High-Speed Product Division. "Our expertise in mixed-signal IC design, video transport, signal integrity and automotive qualification processes has made National's FPD-Link 2 SERDES products the first choice among major OEMs and tier-1 suppliers for point-to-point data transfer. Altera's proficiency in embedded digital video processing is a natural complement to National's FPD-Link II SERDES. Our shared customers are well positioned to benefit from our strategic collaboration, which is fueled by strong growth in embedded video for infotainment and driver-assist applications."

"This work with National represents the first in a multi-step collaboration between the two companies to facilitate the routing of high-resolution digital video within automotive applications," said Michael Samuelian, director of Altera's automotive and industrial business unit. "Our experience in processing automotive video, graphics and human-machine interfaces combined with National's widely deployed FPD-Link 2 SERDES family delivers automotive manufacturers a proven solution for deploying digital video in their next-generation vehicles."

Handheld projectors start emerging

The problem of displaying information from ever smaller devices has been a major headache fro several years. Micromachined technology such as Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processor (DLP) have driven down the size of projectors to just-about-handheld (see previous stories) and now a new venture is tackling the same market.
Microvision of Redmond, Washington has developed a prototype of a truly handheld, battery powered projector (right) for mobile phones and personal media players that goes on show at the CES consumer electronics show next week (Jan 7th), although production is planned for the end of the year.
Code-named SHOW, Microvision's pico projector uses a single micromachined mirror (rather than TI's array of mirrors) and laser scanning to get the size down to 7mm thick and keep the power down. The images projected can range anywhere from 12 inches (30 cm) to 100 inches (2.5 m) in size depending upon the projection distance and are always in focus. The production version of the device is expected to offer approximately 2.5 hours of continuous battery life, sufficient to watch a full-length movie without a need for recharging.
Microvision says that SHOW can project a widescreen, WVGA (848 X 480 pixels), DVD quality image, compared to other miniature projectors that typically only offer QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels). The technology is already being used for a head-up display in development for cars.
"While mobile multi-media subscription services are on the rise, handset manufacturers, content providers and service providers view tiny cell phone displays as a barrier to stronger consumer adoption of their products and services,” said Alexander Tokman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Microvision. "SHOW is a significant milestone for Microvision and is proof that our technology is maturing according to plan and is close to being market-ready. Microvision's low-profile and low-power design, supported by leading supply chain partners, is very attractive to numerous mobile handset device manufactures, carriers and content providers. We believe that this milestone is meaningful not only for our company but for the industry at large," he said.

Infineon guns for Freescale in automotive engine control

Infineon Technologies is looking to take on Freescale Semiconductor's PowerPC chip in the engine management market in a move that is set to spark a price war.

Infineon is looking for ways to make its TriCore embedded microcontroller even more cost effective as it continues to back the architecture, says Peter Bauer, head of the Automotive, Industrial and Multimedia (AIM) group and a member of Infineon's board of directors. AIM is the larger of the two groups in the company, bringing in 70% of the revenue.

"We will discover how low in cost we can get the TriCore," he said, sparking a potential price war."We believe we can bring TriCore to the lowest cost engine management designs."

This is set to spark a price war if Freescale competes in price to keep its market share, but will bring sophisticated engine management technology to a wider range of vehicles in lower price brackets.

Bauer claims Infineon has 60% of engine management designs using TriCore. Infineon is currently the #2 automotive chip supplier in the world with a market share of 9.5%, behind Freescale's 11.2% (see global market right).