new japan radio commences pmic shipments to tier ones · the automotive ic sec - tor,” said jh...

The monthly magazine for automotive electronics engineers

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IN THISISSUE

Page 4: Delphi andNXP take V2X intohigh volume

Page 5: Aesinconference preview

Page 8: Smartphonesdisrupt infotainment

Page 9: In-vehiclecomputers improvesafety

4: MeetingCV expectations forin-vehicle computing

Page 18: Protectingvulnerable circuits

Page 22: Proretadriver assistanceproject

Page 25: How tokeep networks safe

Page 31: Productnews

Page 36: Contactinformation

Issue 10October 2014

NEWS

Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 2

New Japan Radio and theTaiwanese UMC foundryhave begun supplying au-tomotive ICs to majortier-one Japanese auto-motive suppliers. Theseanalogue ICs are incorpo-rated into electronic con-trol units (ECUs).The power management

IC (PMIC), designed byNJR and made at UMC,has also been adopted byanother international tier-one manufacturer. Thecompany said the mile-stone was significant as it

demonstrated that UMCand NJR had met the pro-duction quality and relia-bility standards for ICsused in cars, which aremore stringent than fortraditional semiconductormanufacturing.“NJR has been working

hard with UMC to ensurethat their productionmeets the rigorous re-quirements of Japanesecar OEMs,” said TakaakiMurata, NJR director andmanager. “We are pleasedthat UMC-made products

are proven to meet thosetough qualifications. I be-lieve the combination ofNJR’s design know-howin automotive, leveragedwith UMC’s manufactur-ing expertise, will furtheropen new markets inJapan and elsewhere.”The PMICs are used to

control battery voltage incars, especially the idlingstop control system.“With NJR’s guidance

to successfully enter thetough Japanese automo-tive market, UMC has

broadened its horizons inthe automotive IC sec-tor,” said JH Shyu,UMC’s senior VP of pro-duction. “We have pro-duced high reliabilitywafers that conform toautomotive safety re-quirements, with the lownoise attribute of UMC’sprocess technology re-sulting in highly accuratevoltage control. We be-lieve the benefits ofUMC’s robust manufac-turing will help contributeto other OEMs as well.”

New Japan Radio commencesPMIC shipments to tier ones

Ford’s pedestrian detectiondebuts at Paris Motor ShowThe 2015 Mondeo, Ford’sfirst car globally to pro-vide pedestrian detectiontechnology, will debut atthis month’s Paris MotorShow. The show will beopen to the public from 4to 14 October.The technology can

identify people in theroad ahead, or who couldcross the vehicle’s path,and automatically applythe brakes if the driverdoes not respond to warn-ings. It processes infor-mation from a wind-shield-mounted cameraand radar in the bumper,and checks it against a

database of pedestrianshapes to distinguish peo-ple from other objects.“The new Mondeo is

the most technologicallyadvanced Ford vehicleever introduced in Eu-rope,” said UlrichKoesters, vehicle line di-rector at Ford of Europe.“Features such as pre-col-lision assist with pedes-trian detection add safetyand security for drivers inbusy urban conditions.”The pre-collision assist

also introduces activebraking, which can au-tonomously engage tohelp mitigate rear-end

collisions, right up to thevehicle’s top speed.The car is due to go on

sale later this year as afour-door hybrid, five-door or estate in dealer-ships across Europe. Thehigh-powered diesel ver-sion should be availablein early 2015.Engineers tested the

system on closed circuitsusing rigs fitted with life-size dummies. They alsospent months testing andrefining the system onroads around the world toprove system reliabilityunder real-world condi-tions.“The real-world testing

was crucial,” said GregorAllexi, active safety engi-neer at Ford.The car will also in-

clude extensions to thecompany’s automaticparking to help driversexit parallel parkingspaces and deliver an on-screen visual representa-tion and audible warningof obstacles.Parking assist on the Ford Mondeo

NEWS NEWS

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 3, October 2014 October 2014, Page 4

Paul Newman and robot cars sounds like the plug for a science-fictionblockbuster, but this Paul Newman (pictured) is professor ofinformation engineering at Oxford University where he also heads theOxford Mobile Robotics Group. He will be giving the lecture at thisyear’s Institution of Engineering & Technology Young Professionals’Event at the Royal Institution in London on 23 October 2014.Robotcar is one of the projects at the university to help developtechnologies that will lead to autonomous driving. He will be talkingabout the work being done at Oxford on this.

Paul Newman is star of Robotcar

The 2015 Lexus NXwill be the first vehicle toincorporate Harman’sClari-Fi compressiontechnology, which auto-matically analyses andimproves the audio qual-ity of compressed, digi-talised music sources.The technology will be

part of the Mark LevinsonPremium surround-soundaudio system.“We are proud to con-

tinue our 13-year partner-ship with Lexus, and

excited that the new NXvehicle, which will be thefirst automobile in theworld to feature Clari-Fi,will also be available onthe European market,“said Dinesh Paliwal,chairman of Harman.“Clari-Fi is a significanttechnological advance-ment that transforms thelistening experience forthe millions of peoplewho don’t want to sacri-fice quality for the con-venience of downloaded

and streaming digitalmusic.”He said he wanted con-

sumers to experience themusic the way it was in-tended, whether at home,on the go or in the car.It does not simply add

equalisation and boostbass, or focus only onleveraging high-resolu-tion file formats on a pro-prietary device.The approach analyses

digital audio signals inreal time and rebuilds

them during playback.It does not mask the ef-

fects of heavy compres-sion by adding neweffects, but instead usesan algorithm to put backwhat is lost during thecompression process.Powered by a ten-chan-

nel ML5 amplifier, the835W audio system in theLexus NX incorporatesthe technology across 14speakers in 12 locationsthroughout the vehiclecabin.

Lexus NX first to Clari-FiFor the first time, V2Xchipsets will be put intohigh-volume manufactur-ing. NXPwill supply Del-phi Automotive with itsRoadlink chipset for vehi-cle-to-vehicle (V2V) andvehicle-to-infrastructure(V2I) communications.The wireless technol-

ogy improves road safetyby alerting drivers of traf-fic information. Havingsecured a partnershipwith General Motors,Delphi’s platform will befirst to market and is ex-

pected to be on the roadswithin two years.Using NXP’s technol-

ogy combined with appli-cation software fromCohda Wireless, Delphi’splatform lets alerts be de-livered to vehicles fromother cars and infrastruc-ture, such as traffic lightsand signage, to alert driv-ers about potentiallyhazardous situations,complementing advanceddriver assistance systems(adas) such as radar.“The ability to detect

and warn drivers of dan-ger ahead is a significantleap towards improvingcar safety and trafficmanagement,” said JeffOwens, CTO at Delphi.Messages could include

blind-intersection colli-sion, road condition haz-ards, road works,presence of emergencyvehicles, stationary orslow moving vehicles,traffic jams, and accidentwarnings, as well as traf-fic signals or signage in-dicators. It avoids cellular

or other networks that canbe slow or unreliable, in-stead operating on IEEE802.11p wireless commu-nications. The communi-cations are protectedagainst illegal attacks ordata theft by a V2X hard-ware security module.“The fact that Delphi-

has selected NXP assemiconductor supplierfor its V2X communica-tions technology makesus very proud,” saidTorsten Lehmann, seniorVP at NXP.

Delphi and NXP take V2Xchipsets into high volume

Argus Cyber Security hasraised US$4m in fundingto help it develop its in-trusion prevention systembased deep packet inspec-tion algorithms.The technology pre-

vents a vehicle's criticalcomponents from beinghacked in real time andcan be integrated into avehicle production line. Italso generates reports andalerts for remote monitor-ing of a vehicle's cyberhealth.The series A funding

came from Magma Ven-ture Partners, Vertex Ven-ture Capital and investorsincluding Zohar Zisapel,co-founder of the RadGroup and chair ofArgus’board of directors.Magma and Vertex nowhave places on the board.

Argus raisessecurity cash

NEWS

Page 5, October 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 6

NEWS

There were some unusual sights at last month’s Intel Developer Forumin San Francisco as the chip giant showed how everyday objects couldbe transformed into intelligent, data-driven solutions for real-worldproblems as a part of the internet of things (IoT). Intel’s Doug Davishighlighted the top ten Intel-based IoT products, three of which in-cluded a connected wheelchair, the Steadyserv iKeg system and fleetmanagement products from Vnomics.The company also announced collaborations with AT&T, Cisco, GEand IBM to build complete IoT systems and create innovative productplans.

Making things intelligent

Power electronics andmechanical engineeringare converging as carmakers develop secondand third generation hy-brid and electric vehicledrivetrains, believes BenJackson from Interna-tional Rectifier, who willexplain this in his paper atthe Aesin annual confer-ence at the University ofWarwick, UK, from 14 to15 October 2014.“Vehicle OEMs are in-

creasingly looking attighter integration ofpower electronics andmechanics to enable bet-ter system level perform-ance, cost reduction and,of increasing importance,as a way to differentiatetheir solution from theircompetitors,” said Jack-son.In his presentation, ex-

amples will be shown ofhow the power semicon-ductor package is evolv-ing across various levelsof integration such asbare die, discrete andmodule level to meet theneeds of the next genera-tion vehicles. The bene-fits of integrating themain inverter with themain motor will be ex-plained and variouspower semiconductorpackaging methods pre-sented from traditionalmoulded discrete pack-ages through to new bond

Conference to discuss merger of powerelectronics and mechanical engineering

wireless designs enablingdual sided cooling andbenchmark levels ofpower density.Attention will also be

given to the needs of thesilicon to be adapted tomeet the automotive mar-

ket and the various per-formance trade-offs thatsemiconductor compa-nies can make in the opti-misation of IGBTs anddiodes to deliver differentvehicle level benefits.In between the sessions,

delegates will be able toexplore three demonstra-tion vehicles – there willbe two from Jaguar LandRover – a XJe plug-in hy-brid and a Range E lowcarbon vehicle with aplug-in diesel parallel hy-brid system. The third ve-hicle will be a BMW i3.Among the other pre-

sentations will be An-thony Webb from GreenHills Software talkingabout a connected car as anode in the internet ofthings, Barry Lock fromLauterbach looking atsoftware quality, JeffLoeliger from FreescaleSemiconductor dis-cussing how MCUs canmake cars greener andPaul Brookes fromSiemens on intelligenttransportation systems.

Jaguar Land Rover Range E low carbon vehicle

Steady growth for automotive ICsThe global automotive ICmarket will grow at aCAGR of 9.85% from2013 to 2018, accordingto a report from Report-stack.The report splits the

market into seven divi-sions – powertrain con-trol, comfort and control,in-vehicle networking,chassis systems, infotain-ment systems, safety andcontrol, and electronicsystems.

“These are sets ofmethodologies and tech-nologies that transformunstructured and struc-tured data into meaning-ful and useful informationprocesses,” says the re-port, which has been pre-pared based on marketanalysis with inputs fromindustry experts.The report covers the

Americas, and the Apacand Emea regions. And itcovers the global automo-

tive IC market landscapeand its growth prospectsin the coming years.Included is a discussion

of the four key vendorsoperating in this market –Freescale, Infineon, Re-nesas and ST Micoelec-tronics. Other prominentvendors covered includeAnalog Devices, Bosch,NXPSemiconductors, OnSemiconductor, RohmSemiconductor, Texas In-struments and Toshiba.

China’s automotive com-ponents sector is set toachieve annual growth of20% for the next fiveyears driven by demandfor new cars and a grow-ing secondary market, ac-cording to a report fromIpsos Business Consult-ing. However, the riskfrom counterfeiting is setto increase along with thefast-growing automotiveparts market.The aftermarket seg-

ment will become themain outlet for automo-tive parts as the averageage of vehicles on theroad continues to rise; thecurrent total car popula-tion has already surpassed100 million.The counterfeit auto

parts market, already theworld’s largest with avalue of about US$40bn,will increase as the over-all market grows, predictsthe report.Central government has

progressed with imple-menting IP laws, but ap-plication and enforcementremain inconsistent andinsufficient at regionaland local levels. As a re-sult, the report says man-ufacturers must developIP protection as standardpractice to counter thethreat from copycats,which is expected to riseas the market expands.

Counterfeiting cloud continuesover fast growing China market

“Our research stressesthe need for IP protectionin what is the world’slargest counterfeit marketfor auto parts,” said LynnMorgan, from Ipsos inEurope.Rising demand in both

the car and auto partsmarkets provide signifi-cant growth opportunitiesfor manufacturers. For-eign-invested enterprisescurrently account forabout one-third of theparts market’s output.

They are expected to con-solidate this positiongiven foreign firms morestringent IP protectionpractices and their greateraffinity for mergers andacquisitions, which willbe a key growth strategy.

NEWSNEWS

Page 7, October 2014 Vehicle Electronics Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 8

LDRA is creating a part-ner alliance in India tobring technologies to-gether into an integratedsafety-critical platformthat complies with stan-dards for development ofautomotive, aerospace,rail, medical, industrial,military, energy, nuclearand cyber security appli-cations.Already on board are

Arm,Avnet, Esterel Tech-nologies, Freescale Semi-conductor, Green HillsSoftware, IBM India,Mentor Graphics, Na-tional Instruments, TexasInstruments, TÜV Rhein-land, TÜV SÜD, ULIndia, Wind River andXilinx.“The lack of critical

safety standards and thegap between local andglobal practices are im-peding economic growthin India,” said ShintoJoseph, operations direc-tor for LDRAIndia. “Thisis particularly true in allcritical sectors where er-rant systems can lead tophysical injury or death.”The alliance says it will

work with universitiesand government agenciesto implement better skilldevelopment.

Most Cooperation has is-sued a call for papers forits International Confer-ence on Most Technol-ogy, due to be held as partof the Most Forum on 21April 2015 in Stuttgart,Germany. This one-dayconference and exhibitionaims to present the latestcurrent and future tech-nologies and applicationsbased on Most.

The international audi-ence will be composed ofresearchers, designers,engineers, system devel-opers, purchasers, jour-nalists and managers.“This year’s Most

Forum demonstrated thatMost technology is an ef-ficient connection be-tween various domains inthe vehicle,” said HenryMuyshondt, executive di-

rector of the Most Coop-eration. “Most can net-work infotainment, driverassist, navigation andcommunications domainsby providing enhancedperformance at reason-able cost.”Anyone interested is in-

vited to submit a proposalfor a paper by 28 Novem-ber 2014 to [email protected].

Most issues call for papers

Henry Muyshondt

Octo Telematics has ex-tended its contract withInsurethebox, a providerof telematics car insur-ance, for another twoyears. The deal will seeOcto continue to supplythe black-box telematicstechnology fitted to eachcustomer vehicle.To date, more than

300,000 of the blackboxes have been fitted tovehicles driven by In-surethebox customerssince the partnershipbegan in 2010.“Over the past four

years, Octo has been atrusted partner for In-

surethebox,” said MarkGrant, business develop-ment manager at In-surethebox. “The Octotechnology and quality ofdata have played a signif-icant role in helping ourbusiness develop to be-come the UK’s leadingprovider of telematics carinsurance.”The boxes monitor

driver behaviour, host aGPS transmitter to recordthe location of the driver,a gimbal to record themovement of the vehicleand a sim card to transmitrelevant data to a centralportal that can be viewed

by the customer and In-surethebox analysts.“The extension of the

agreement between Octoand Insurethebox is a fur-ther endorsement of thepopularity of UBI [userbased insurance] amongstdrivers,” said MartinWilliams, UK managingdirector of Octo. “Octo isdelighted to continueworking with Insurethe-box to provide the tech-nology and data thatsupport the growth of theInsurethebox businessand deliver significantsavings for their cus-tomers.”

Octo extends insurance deal

LDRAformsIndianalliance The use of smartphones

in motor vehicles is themost disruptive trend inthe automotive infotain-ment business today, pre-senting challenges andopportunities for car mak-ers and their processorsemiconductor suppliers,according to a report fromIHS Technology.The most promising

prospect for automotiveprocessors in the yearsahead will be in thetelematics portal headunit, which can connectwith a smartphone formobile broadband con-nectivity.Revenue for automotive

infotainment processorchips for telematics portalhead units, predicts thereport, will grow toUS$508m in 2018, up

from slightly less than$128m in 2013.And while this particu-

lar application accountedfor only 8% of totalglobal automotive info-tainment processor mar-ket revenue in 2013, itsshare will surge to 30% in2018.In comparison, the au-

tomotive processor seg-ment with the highestrevenue last year – headunits for navigation – willshrink dramatically by2018.Revenue will plunge to

$51.0m in 2018, downfrom $367.8m in 2013, asnavigation becomes astandard feature providednot only by multimediaand telematics portals butalso by smartphones.“Smartphone use in ve-

hicles has led to two di-vergent approaches tohead-unit designs, one re-placing smartphones andthe other one embracingthem,” said Tom Hacken-berg, senior analyst formicrocontrollers and mi-croprocessors at IHS.“For the most part, au-tomakers are heeding thecall to accommodate mo-bile devices. This ex-plains the dramatic rise inrevenue for telematicsportal head units, whichaddress the complexitiesof the human-machine in-terface as well as the in-creasing consumerdemand for ubiquitousconnectivity.”To keep up with such

consumer preferences,automotive OEMs areproviding systems that

are more extensively inte-grated. Not only will in-fotainment systems comewith features such as net-worked displays, controlsbuilt into the steeringwheel and large touchscreens, cars will also beable to capitalise onusers’ smartphones toconnect with the variousintegrated systems of thevehicle, to offer a richerand more up-to-date ex-perience.The growth in new fea-

tures from automotiveOEMs is expected to takemarket share away fromaftermarket vendors,which will be hard-pressed to exceed the richuser experience deliveredfrom pre-installed andhighly integrated info-tainment systems.

Smartphones to disruptinfotainment market

At the IAA CommercialVehicle Show in Han-nover last month, Telogisand Ford said they wereexpanding their partner-ship to improve thetelematics for Ford cus-tomers in Europe.Ford Telematics pow-

ered by Telogis willprovide actionable infor-mation from Ford com-mercial vehicles that isclaimed to help customersreduce fuel costs by up to20%, reduce their envi-ronmental impact and in-crease driver safety. Thisextends the agreement be-tween the two companies

that has been in place inNorth America since2011.“Ford of Europe is de-

livering on customer de-mand for visibility, costsavings and safety withFord Telematics poweredby Telogis,” said BillFrykman, manager, busi-ness and product develop-ment at Ford Motor.“Telogis is our trustedpartner, and the successwe’ve had with Ford cus-tomers in North Americamade them the onlychoice for Ford’s Euro-pean platform offering.”The technology will be

available to fleet cus-tomers as a dealer-in-stalled option in selectedEuropean markets, of-fered through Ford’s net-work of specialist transitcentres, and is warrantiedand serviceable at Forddealerships throughoutEurope.Greg Dziewit, vice

president for OEM busi-ness at Telogis, added:“Making this offeringavailable to Ford’s Euro-pean customers will helpthem run more efficient,cost-effective and saferfleets and transform theway they do business.”

Ford and Telogis expandagreement into Europe

IN-VEHICLE COMPUTERS IN-VEHICLE COMPUTERS

Vehicle ElectronicsPage 9, October 2014 Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 10

Terrorism, crime and vandal-ism targeting public transitsystems, such as the Lon-

don bombings in July 2005 andkillings on school buses and tran-sit lines in recent years, havehighlighted the importance of in-vehicle video surveillance. FromLondon to Paris to Taipei, and inmany other metropolitan areasaround the world, an increasing

Staying safe

Conant Ho shows how in-vehicle videosurveillance can boost public safety

number of IP surveillance systemshave been installed on buses andother rolling stock to implementrecording of images both on boardand outside the vehicles. The con-tinually declining price of IP (net-work-based) video surveillanceequipment and improved networkbandwidth have increased the af-fordability of the latest technologyand further fuelled market growth.

A typical vehicle surveillancescenario – in a bus, for example –includes two in-vehicle camerasrecording interior views of thepassenger compartment, and an-other two cameras helping elimi-nate external blind spots.

Vehicle surveillance serves mul-tiple purposes: it helps protectpassengers and drivers on boardas well as pedestrians and otherdrivers on the road. It also helpsto enforce driver and rider regula-tions as people know they’rebeing watched and are more likely



to follow the rules. It can help fixresponsibility after an event, andeven reduces frivolous claims.

Moreover, IP-based video sur-veillance of full-HD quality canenable valuable IVA (intelligentvideo analytics) features, such asfacial detection, demographics,passenger counting, forbiddenzone and density analysis. Theanalysis functions sometimes canproduce added business values –for example, passenger analysiscan help determine media displaycontent for in-vehicle signage dur-ing specific hours; content can befine-tuned to impress a target au-dience.

That is why IP surveillance isrecommended for in-vehicleapplications: it delivers manyadvantages over traditionalclosed-circuit television (CCTV),

including easier and less expen-sive installation through PoE(power over Ethernet), higherimage quality that enables moreeffective IVA, real-time remotemonitoring and control, conven-ient video data search and re-trieval, and higher softwarecompatibility.

RequirementsIn the past, a traditional CCTVwas considerably cheaper than anIP camera, but today the price gaphas narrowed. Compared with IPsurveillance, analogue camerasdeliver poor image quality, whichmakes implementing IVA diffi-cult. CCTV is also awkward whenit comes to VMS compatibilitydue to the lack of standard encod-ing and decoding protocols.

IP cameras, on the contrary, can

be easily installed simply via anEthernet cable connection, andfollow the industrial communica-tions standard, ONVIF, that en-sures interoperability betweenIP-based physical security prod-ucts and provides much highercompatibility with software prod-ucts developed by various compa-nies.

Of course, the fiscal reality foremerging countries has to be con-sidered, which means due to strin-gent budgets some still need toopt for CCTV; it is best if an in-vehicle computer for video sur-veillance can provide both IP andCCTV support, as a hybrid.

WirelessWireless communications areneeded between the vehicle andcontrol centre so instant response

is possible – such as for emer-gency dispatch of service person-nel to take care of a breakdown.Adapting to varying mobile com-munications infrastructures at dif-ferent locations, diverse andflexible wireless communicationsincluding Wifi, 3G or LTE need tobe provided. An emergency callsystem can be implemented aswell, with an additional voicemodule.

However, due to the limits ofwireless bandwidth, video datatransmission in real time must bein a lower definition format, withthe copy and storage of full-HDquality raw data to the databasemade only after the bus returns tothe terminal; this can be done au-tomatically via software-enablednetwork transmission, or by sim-ply retrieving the storage device.Therefore HDD hot swappabilityis also an important design con-sideration for in-vehicle systems;it delivers convenient data re-trieval and system reliability.

GPS navigation is also a crucialcomponent for in-vehicle surveil-lance systems; it provides real-time position tracking of thevehicles and enables more well-informed and efficient fleet man-agement, including instantreactions to incidents. The ac-quired data can also be used fordeveloping value-added applica-tions such as a bus arrival timeprediction system, with the infor-mation displayed on signage ateach bus stop.

The Can bus is used to connectthe on-board video surveillancesystem and the vehicle ECU aswell as a video event datarecorder (VEDR) to provide vehi-cle status information such as

In-vehicle surveillance can help keep bus passengers safe

driving speed, gear use, braking,fuel usage and so on. Such infor-mation can be valuable in deter-mining responsibility or liabilityin traffic incidents. Some vehiclestatus data can be selectively in-corporated into video and shownon-screen along with timeline in-formation.

A G sensor or accelerometer canbe used to detect and monitor ac-celeration, vibration and shock inthe automotive environment,which in turn will assist in inci-dent analysis and responsibilityclarification – for example, incrash investigations or examina-tions of driving behaviours.

Today’s IP cameras are usuallyenabled and powered over an RJ-45 Ethernet line connection. Anin-vehicle networked video

recorder typically has four defaultchannels for connecting four IPcameras. However, additional lanports should be provided that letthe system scale easily; with extraports, the user can connect via aPoE switch to add additional cam-eras, depending on application re-quirements, system performanceand bandwidth.

Experienced in-vehicle com-puter system suppliers provide notonly hardware, but an integratedhardware, firmware and softwarepackage with rich SDK and APIsthat exempt system integratorsfrom the complex programmingrequired to make low-level systemcalls; this allows them to developintended applications and func-tions with great ease and fastertime-to-market. Remote control

Acquired data can also be used for bus arrival time predictionwith the information displayed on signage at each bus stop



software is convenient for devel-oping in-vehicle systems. And ad-vanced applications such as VMSor IVA can either be independ-ently developed by system inte-grators or purchased from a thirdparty.

In vehicleThe automotive environment isbeset by electrical hazards, shockand vibration, dust, and some-times temperature extremes. Toensure safety and reliability, in-vehicle computers require specialdesigns to combat these evils, andthese design features distinguishthem from standard IT products.The most important of all is tack-ling power challenges.

In-vehicle electronics are vul-nerable to impacts from so-calleddirty power. These include powersurges or voltage spikes caused bya battery disconnect, a jump start,a cold crank, or switching tran-sients from other on-board de-vices or subsystems. Transientvoltage can cause severe damageand failure of electrical devices.Therefore, transient protection atthe hardware design level andpower ignition management at thefirmware level are critical for in-

vehicle video surveillance sys-tems.

Tolerance for a wide range ofDC inputs is also important toease installation of in-vehicle de-vices in 12 and 24V DC batterysystems, and to enhance resistanceagainst cold crank, jump start andload dump conditions.

To ensure the power design ofelectronic devices is robustenough to survive the hazards andtrials of automotive environments,international standards with settest methodologies have been de-fined for certifying in-vehicleelectronic appliances, such as E-mark and ISO-7637-2.

The automotive environment is,by nature, subject to constant vi-bration and occasional shock.Therefore, special mechanical de-signs are necessary to protectelectronic components, such asthe use of durable and heat-resis-tant adhesives, screws anddampers that reinforce ruggedisa-tion.

Due to economic spatial consid-erations, the industrial in-vehiclecomputer is more likely to be in-stalled in the undercarriage ratherthan seated in a cosy, air-condi-tioned corner. Therefore, special

mechanical designs, including thearrangement of components in thechassis to allow for better heatdissipation, are important forstrengthening system reliability.

However, as the use of fanscould draw in dust and threatensystem lifespan, fanless designsare preferred for IPCs (industrialPCs) used in vehicles. Striking thedelicate balance between systemperformance and thermal designposes challenges for IPC makers.

IPCs for vehicle applications arealso prone to electromagnetic dis-turbances from other in-vehicledevices and special protection isneeded to ensure system reliabil-ity and longevity. IEC-61000 con-tains a series of standards forverifying EMC capabilities.

Optically isolated IO designshelp to eliminate noise pickup as-sociated with PC power suppliesand ground connections, thus pro-tecting the printed circuit boardsinside from damage.

Conant Ho is product managerfor Advantech’s embeddedcomputing group

Conant Ho

Passenger surveillance systemscan be installed on trains

LOGGING ON

Per Holmberg looks athow to meet commercialusers’ expectations forin-vehicle computing

Bennesveds Åkeri is using arugged mobile computerconnected to the vehicle’s

data bus system

IN-VEHICLE COMPUTERS


IN-VEHICLE COMPUTERS

The proliferation of alwaysconnected devices and thetrend for BYOD (bring

your own device) within com-merce means technology is nowan integral part of every aspect ofmodern life. It’s no wonder, then,that there is a growing demand forvehicles to become more con-nected too.

Bluetooth already allows smartphones to connect seamlessly toinfotainment systems in the car,enabling features such as talkingtext alerts and, of course, hands-free communications. Some sys-tems also enable the car to use aphone as a data modem, for updat-ing traffic conditions or PoIs(points of interest). This bi-direc-tional connection is just the begin-ning, but how will commercialand industrial operators make themost of in-vehicle computing?

The need for in-vehicle comput-ing for commercial use is drivenby both economic and environ-mental factors. For example, byroute optimisation and green driv-

ing, CO2 emissions can be re-duced at the same time as costsare saved. The technology can andis being used for fleet trackingsystems that make use of GPS toprovide field-based data that caneither be monitored in real-timeusing cellular connectivity orstored locally for later analysis.These are more complex systemsthat require a reliable backhaul,most likely realised by a cellularnetwork. As such they would typi-cally be offered by a serviceprovider specialising in this; theymay also design and manufacturethe hardware or be an agent forspecialist ODMs.

To meet this growing demandfor in-vehicle computing, thereare companies specialising in de-veloping black box computers, de-signed to be installed permanentlyin a car and hard-wired into itspower system. This approach hassome obvious benefits; it providesa fast and relatively simple way to

add computing power to a vehicle,making use of the car’s ownpower supply.

Such systems invariably usesome form of modular design andare, in effect, mini-desktop PCsrunning either a version of Win-dows or an open source operatingsystem such as Linux or Android.Although these systems have areasonable level of performanceand convenience, they don’t nec-essarily address the challenge ofkeeping up with technology evo-lution. The life time and upgradecycle of computer hardware is farshorter than the life cycle of acommercial vehicle, making theinstalled computer old pretty fast,and preventing the software appli-cation from being upgraded andkeeping up with new functional-ity.

To meet the challenge of up-gradeability, there is another classof in-vehicle computers – mobilevehicle mount terminals (VMTs)

Fig. 1: RuggedisedVMTs can provide productivity boostsand enhance overall efficiency for commercialoperators

Per Holmberg

Fig. 2: An innovative vehicle-mount system ensures an opti-mal terminal design with easyaccess, along with the ability toupgrade terminals quickly andcost-effectively when necessary

Fig. 3: Volvo is using VMTs to monitor key aspects of its HCTsand reduce fuel consumption

– that are used to increase produc-tivity and efficiency. Similar toblack box computers, VMTs areoften PC-based platforms runningan open operating system such asWindows Embedded or Linux.However, they integrate the CPU,memory, power supply, 3G con-nectivity and more, with a displayand touch screen into a single mo-bile unit, similar to a tablet PC,see Fig. 1.

In accordance with a user’sneeds, these systems can integrateto a vehicle’s electronic systemsthrough, for example, a Can busconnection allowing operators andmanufacturers to gain access tovehicle data. Because the VMT ismobile and not integrated in thevehicle, it can easily be upgradedwhen new and higher perform-ance hardware is available. Themobility also improves servicea-bility significantly, which is a keyfactor for a commercial user. Thisclass of in-vehicle computer hasaltogether different requirements.

Hardware optionA key aspect of this sector is de-sign. For commercial users look-ing to integrate mobile computing

into their fleet or commercial ve-hicles, in-vehicle PCs of the formdescribed have, for some time,been the only option. However,the introduction of smart phonesand tablet computers has had a farreaching effect on every aspect ofcomputing; the capability of mo-bile technology means more usersare questioning the need for con-ventional desktop PCs and thesame could be said for the bur-geoning in-vehicle PC market.

While the opportunity is clear,shrinking the technology down tobecome truly mobile, as opposedto permanently installed, involveschallenges; form factor is cru-cially important, as there willlikely be minimal room for aVMT, particularly in the cab of acommercial vehicle. Another cru-cial aspect is ruggedness; con-sumer tablets would not be able towithstand the harsh environmentsthat commercial vehicles are usedin, but it is exactly this kind of ve-hicle that could benefit most fromin-vehicle computing. Tablet-likePCs designed for harsh environ-ments are desirable but not asreadily available as their mini-desktop-like counterparts, how-

ever some manufacturers focussedon the design and manufacture ofrugged mobile computers are in-novatively addressing these chal-lenges.

IndustrialIdeally, a rugged mobile PC orVMT targeting the in-vehicle mar-ket would deliver the best of bothworlds; a powerful mobile com-puter that is comparable to a mod-ern tablet in terms of userinterface and feel, yet able towithstand the harsh environmentsto which commercial vehicles areoften exposed. Rather than takingexisting technology and adaptingit, this requires a dedicated ap-proach to design and manufacture.

A key aspect of that design in-volves maximising the availablesize while offering the latest tech-nology, such as a large 25cm

IN-VEHICLE COMPUTERS CIRCUIT PROTECTION


multi-touch-sensitive screen thatcan be viewed in a range of condi-tions from direct sunlight to com-plete darkness. This can bedifficult in a form factor that mustcomprise processing, memory andinterface technology, power regu-lation and a battery. Thermal man-agement in such a form factor alsobecomes a significant considera-tion; forced air cooling is not re-ally an option, relying insteadsolely on convection and thereforeoften dictating the use of an opti-mally designed metal frame.

A further aspect that can oftenbe crucial is how the tablet will bemounted in the vehicle. Most ex-amples of rugged tablet computersavailable today use the Vesamounting system; the same sys-tem used to mount LCD TVs towalls. This clearly has implica-tions when being adopted for mo-bile technology, where removal ofthe tablet may be necessary on afrequent basis.

A better method may be to use adocking system that allows fasterremoval of the tablet, as shown inFig. 2. This also means that anyhardwired connections – such as3G and GPS antennas, USB,RS232/422 or Can bus – can re-main connected to the dockingstation even when the VMT is re-moved.

ApplicationDriving up efficiency isn’t justgood for commerce, it’s good forthe environment, too. Sweden hasa goal of reducing greenhouse gasemissions across its nation by40% by 2020; a moving target, asthe volume of goods transportedcontinues to rise. With little or nofurther expansion expected to therail and road infrastructure in the

same period, the key is to increasethe efficiency of the vehiclesusing it.

Curiously, the most promisingmethod is to make the vehiclesbigger; by carrying more, the fuelper ton-km is lowered, as theseso-called high capacity transports(HCT) are able to transport signif-icantly heavier loads on existingroads. The Swedish forestry re-search organisation, Skogforsk, isrunning an HCT project usingVolvo lorries up to 90 tons and30m long. They have a muchgreater capacity for lumber thanexisting lorries; able to carry fourstacks instead of three, and the re-sults show a 20% reduction in fuelconsumption, significant becausetransport vehicles constitute alarge proportion of carbon dioxideemissions from the forestryindustry

The efficiency gains are in partenabled by using in-vehicle com-puters to monitor the lorry’s trac-tion and other key parameters, seeFig. 3.

Bennesveds Åkeri, a haulagecontractor in Älghult Sweden, isusing a rugged mobile computerrunning Windows Embedded,

connected to the vehicle’s databus system (Can and J1587/1708),enabling continuous monitoring oftraction across the nine wheelaxles with respect to the drivingconditions. The driver also re-ceives information and warnings,such as changes in weight distri-bution or tyre pressure, as well asproviding mission information.

In fact, the computer is used fororder management, transport androute planning, map data andsafety functions, as well as pro-viding data and run-time reportsabout the ecological aspect of thevehicle’s operation.

“We have used rugged comput-ers for field tests in our heavy tim-ber trucks for some time, in orderto develop functions such as im-proved traction and visualisationof axle loads, which are criticalfor increased road safety and han-dling of our vehicles,” said LenaLarson, project manager at Volvo.

This highlights the way a ruggedPC can be used to increase effi-ciency and improve logistics atevery level.

Per Holmberg is CEO atJLT Mobile Computers

Lena Larson: “We have used rugged computers for field tests inour heavy timber trucks for some time.”

More and more electroniccircuitry is being incor-porated into each new

wave of automobile models. Thismeans drivers and passengers canbenefit from a greater breadth offeatures and functionality. In theseincreasingly crowded and com-

Transientnature

As the electronics in vehicles increases, there is more need fortransient protection for vulnerable circuits, says Deres Eshete

plex electrical environments,where analogue and digital cir-cuitry are now being placed inclose proximity, the managementof voltage transients is more criti-cal than ever.

If reliable operation of vehiclesystems for powertrain, comfort,

safety and infotainment purposesis to be achieved, then innovativetechnologies and strategies needto be employed to ensure thehighest degree of protection fromtransients is maintained in whatare becoming increasingly uncom-promising application settings.

CIRCUIT PROTECTION CIRCUIT PROTECTION


The semiconductor content invehicles has risen by an almostexponential rate over the past twodecades. The numerous, highlysensitive ICs – such as microcon-trollers, asics and FPGAs – insideeach automotive design need to besafeguarded from the harm thattransients can cause. Currently, atypical vehicle will contain morethan 50 transient voltage suppres-sor (TVS) devices and this figurecan be far greater for high-endluxury models, often as much asdoubled.

The principal objective of pro-tection against transients is to as-sure a long and reliable working

life for the vehicle’s electronics.This means there will be a lessfrequent need for servicing to becarried out. It can also help themanufacturer to mitigate the riskof a recall due to a system fault inone of its models – something thatcan have a huge impact on thebrand, both financially and interms of reputation.

There are various phenomenathat an automotive system can po-tentially be exposed to. Amongthese are large voltage spikes,load switching transients or possi-bly even load dump dischargeconditions, although changes toalternator designs, especially inWestern vehicles, are now helpingto make this less of a concern.

There are two main areas inwhich the role of TVS devices iscrucial within modern automobiledesign. First for in-cabin electron-ics, such as infotainment andcomfort systems, where small sig-nals are involved. Secondly, todeal with larger transients fromfrequently switched sources suchas motors, solenoids and so on.

The ISO7637-2 standard definesthe transient pulses with specificrelevance to the automotive sec-tor. It covers all vehicles that are

fitted with either 12V for passen-ger vehicles or 24V for lorries andcommercial vehicles electricalsystems and specifies the testmethods and procedures that needto be undertaken to gain compli-ance. It is worth noting that somevehicle manufacturers do havetheir own slightly different varia-tions on the standard and the typeof pulses that are taken into con-sideration.

As well as automotive systemsbecoming more sophisticated,things have been seriously com-pounded by the ongoing migrationto next generation semiconductortechnologies – with ICs based onsmaller process nodes being moresusceptible to the effect of tran-sients and therefore in need ofmore effective protection. In addi-tion, car makers are looking to im-plement reductions in vehicleweight to save fuel. This meansthe automotive industry as awhole is demanding componentswith smaller package dimensionsand lower profiles. Componentvendors must therefore face thechallenge of producing TVS de-vices that deliver strong protec-tion capabilities but are also inless bulky form factors, see Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Component vendors need to produce TVS devices that deliver strong protection in less bulkyform factors

Deres Eshete

Fig. 2: 10 x 1000µs pulse waveform

At this point TVS devices forautomotive applications generallytend to be based on SMA andSMB package formats. There is,however, for the reasons alreadyoutlined, steadily growing impe-tus towards implementing size re-ductions. Typically power ratingsof around 600W must still bemaintained despite this downsiz-ing if the protection being offeredis to be fully effective. Further-more, lower clamping voltages arerequired by automotive manufac-turers to reduce the stress levelscaused by the presence of tran-sients. Vendors are now looking tomove towards SMA-flat andSOD-123FL formats.

SOD-123FL provides the signif-icant shrink in footprint size thatcar manufacturers desire, with lessPCB space being taken up. Thethermal performance is compro-mised somewhat as there is lessarea available for dissipating thetransient energy and the die sizecapability is reduced considerably.With asic geometries moving to28 or 22nm, there is a greaterneed to suppress the peak voltageto a lower level because the sili-con is more vulnerable.

System redesign is required toreduce power levels and this willmean more engineering resourcesneed to be allocated. The associ-ated development costs rise andthe time to market gets pushedback. This makes the reasons formigrating far less clear cut. Bycomparison, SMA-flat is a muchmore attractive option. This toohas the key advantage over theSMA and SMB devices in that itreduces overall size while still al-lowing the equivalent power dissi-pation levels to SMB devices andhigher than SMA devices. Since it

has comparable die size capabilityto the TVS package formats cur-rently employed, it therefore elim-inates the need for any expensiveredesign work to be embarkedupon. Thermal performance is up-held, but with the benefits of alower maximum package foot-print.

CurrentWhen looking at the overallpower requirements of the design,increasingly it is not just the volt-age range that needs to be consid-ered, but also the currentconsumption’s influence on over-all energy dissipation. One way toascertain the peak power dissipa-tion capability of the TVS devicethat you are looking to specify isthrough a pre-defined pulse.

A 10 x 1000µs non-repetitivepulse can be used for this purpose– this basically means a pulsedwaveform with a rise time of 10µsand a 1000µs period to reach halfvalue (see Fig. 2). This shouldnormally be easy to find on thedevice’s datasheet. Devices with

SMA-flat packages are now beingintroduced to the market that havepower dissipation levels in rela-tion to this pulse of several hun-dred watts.

Electric vehiclesMoving forward, the anticipatedgrowth in both pure electric vehi-cles (EVs) and hybrid electric ve-hicles (HEVs) will set newchallenges for protecting againstthe presence of voltage transients.This will not only be in the vehi-cles themselves but also in thesupporting infrastructure as itstarts to be rolled out on a largescale.

It is expected that further obsta-cles will arise if the automotiveindustry finally does progress to48V supplies. The signs are there.Audi, for example, announced lastmonth that it is upgrading part ofits vehicle electrical system from12 to 48V and has demonstratedthat on two concept vehicles – theA6 TDI and TS 5 TDI.

Although this still seems to be along way off from being imple-

CIRCUIT PROTECTION DRIVER ASSISTANCE

Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 22Vehicle ElectronicsPage 21, October 2014

The Audi TS 5 TDI concept has had part of its vehicle electrical system upgraded from 12 to 48V

mented in all vehicles, the start-stop systems in HEVs and thebrake recuperation systems in in-ternal combustion engine vehiclescould encourage this developmentto progress quicker than previ-ously envisioned. As these highervoltages are employed, the overallwattage of protection may need toincrease and the frequency oftransients and the types of tran-sients will alter.

ConclusionThe migration towards highervoltage transient voltage suppres-sion components in combinationwith flat lead low profile deviceformats will have many implica-tions for how the presence of volt-age transients are tackled inautomotive applications. Theymust combine all the attributesnecessary to ensure that delicateitems of integrated circuitry can

withstand the rigours of beingdeployed inside modern vehicles,while also presenting car manu-facturers with space and weightsaving compactness without beingsubjected to greater thermal is-sues.

Deres Eshete is in chargeof automotive marketingat On Semiconductor’sprotection division

In 2011, the third interdiscipli-nary research project betweenContinental and the Technis-

che Universität (TU) Darmstadt –one of Germany’s leading techni-cal universities – was started tolook at ways vehicle accidentscould be avoided. Called Proreta3, it lasted for three and half yearsand explored a comprehensivedriver assistance and automatedmanoeuvre concept.

The first Proreta project (2002to 2006) focussed on an assistanceconcept for emergency brakingand avoiding obstacles such asstationary vehicles or vehiclesdriving ahead. The second project(2006 to 2009) introduced a pass-ing assistant that can prevent acci-dents with oncoming traffic. The

Stopping accidents

The latest Proreta driver assistanceproject published its findings last month

TU Darmstadt (formerly Technis-che Hochschule) and Continentalhave been cooperating on researchprojects since the 1980s. TUDarmstadt’s involvement in thelatest project included automotiveengineering, ergonomics, controlmethods and robotics as well ascontrol engineering and mecha-tronics.

The third project aimed toevolve a system that kept the ve-hicle in a safe driving corridor;cooperative automation makes au-tomated driving manoeuvres pos-sible. An innovative humanmachine interface (HMI) allowedintuitive understanding of the sys-tem state and the distribution oftasks between driver and vehicle.

“So far, assistance systems such

as lane keeping assist or forwardcollision warning have beenworking as independent, individ-ual systems in vehicles,” said Her-mann Winner, chair of theInstitute of Automotive Engineer-ing at TU Darmstadt and theProreta 3 project manager. “InProreta 3, we have integrated thedriver assistance systems in such away that the functions have beenenhanced and functioning syner-gies have been achieved.”

Peter Rieth, head of systems andtechnology in Continental’s chas-sis and safety division, added:“Integration allows optimum ex-ploitation of the existing sensorinfrastructure in the vehicle. Thedriver in the research vehicle issupported by a complete systemfor driving safety and assistance –with the ultimate objective ofavoiding accidents.”

The chassis and safety division

Testing of hazardous situations:ignoring a red light

DRIVER ASSISTANCE DRIVER ASSISTANCE


develops and produces electronicand hydraulic brake and chassiscontrol systems, sensors, driverassistance systems, air bag elec-tronics and sensors, washersystems, and electronic air sus-pension systems.

In addition, research was carriedout on an information and warn-ing concept that takes the pressureoff drivers and helps them copewith the driving situation. The re-search results and the research ve-hicle were presented in Septemberat the Euler Airfield in Griesheimnear Darmstadt in Germany.

CorridorWhile driving, the vehicle is keptpermanently in a safe driving cor-ridor in conformity with trafficregulations – the so-called safetycorridor. This happens, as long aspossible, without any intervention.If critical situations arise, the sys-tem intervenes with warnings oreven corrective manoeuvres ifnecessary – for example, whencornering at excessive speeds,when obstacles suddenly appear,

Passing through a construction site, the instrument cluster showsthe red marked hazard area

at intersections and constructionsites, as well as during turningmanoeuvres, wrong-way drivingor non-compliance with a redlight.

For this safety corridor, theProreta 3 concept determines thefree space available for the vehi-

cle. The model takes into accountthe predicted positions of othervehicles, road boundaries and ob-stacles as well as road lane mark-ings. These are all used tocalculate the vehicle’s trajectory.The regulation of this trajectoryand the information displayed tothe driver in the HMI constitute aconsistent driver assistance con-cept that helps the driver and pro-tects against potential hazards.

ManoeuvresIn addition to the permanentsafety function, Proreta 3 providesthe driver a cooperative automa-tion option, which is a manoeu-vre-based and partly automatedway of driving. On driver com-mand, the research vehicle takesover longitudinal and lateralmovement for whole manoeuvres.These include both lane changesand turning manoeuvres at inter-sections. To delegate turning, forexample, it suffices if the driver

An infra-red camera inside the vehicle analyses the driver’sviewing behaviour and registers if the driver’s eyes are notdirected at a potentially dangerous situation

activates the turn signal at a cer-tain distance before an intersec-tion – this initiates automatedexecution of the manoeuvre.

“Proreta 3 is the first time such aconcept of automation on a ma-noeuvring level has been able tobe implemented in a research ve-hicle,” said Winner.

InterfaceResearch was done on an innova-tive information and warning con-cept for the research vehicle: theProreta instrument cluster, a 360˚light strip with coordinated audi-ble warning signals as well as theaccelerator force feedback pedal(AFFP) inform the driver in an in-tuitive way about the current as-sistance mode and relevant hazardsituations. A camera inside the ve-hicle continually analyses the dri-

ver’s viewing behaviour.Depending on the viewing di-

rection, a light draws the driver’sattention specifically to criticaltraffic situations.

“The transparent way that theseinnovative instruments work al-lows drivers to familiarise them-selves quickly and easily with thenew function,” said Ralf Lenniger,head of interior electronics atContinental’s interior division.

TU DarmstadtTU Darmstadt has around 300professors, 4250 scientific and ad-ministrative employees, and25,100 students who devote theirtalents and efforts to the future re-search fields such as energy, mo-bility, communications andinformation technologies, housingand living conditions. Most disci-

plines represented are focussed ontechnology, as viewed from thevantage point of engineering, thenatural sciences, the humanitiesand the social sciences, and coverthe full range of academic endeav-our, from the origination of basicconcepts to practical, everydayapplications.

It is Germany’s first au-tonomous university and had astate- funded budget of €271m in2013, including building funds. Itscapacity for innovation is evi-denced by the high level of annualfunding received from outsidesources. The €160.3m in 2013contributed by industry, theDeutsche Forschungsgemein-schaft and the European Unionmakes it one of Germany’s lead-ing academic recipients of outsidefunding.

The LED strip can draw the driver’s attentionspecifically to a critical situation

VEHICLE NETWORKS VEHICLE NETWORKS


The buzz-phrase “connectedcar” is catching on; Fig. 1gives some idea of how

much. And it is still rising fast,with Juniper Research predictingthat nearly 100 million cars willhave internet access by 2016.

Much of the public’s interest hasfocussed on external connection –to the internet, to intelligent trafficsignalling and between vehicles –but for the automotive industrythe term connected car also hasmajor implications for connectiv-ity within a vehicle.

Vehicles have always been inter-nally connected with internal link-ages and wiring to deliver

CRASHCOURSEThere’s plenty of scope for sensationalisingautomotive connectivity but, for both theautomotive and IT industries, there remainserious issues on how to ensure safe,practical methods within a vehicleand for external connections,according to PeterNicholson

monitoring, diagnostic and controlfunctions to the dashboard or be-tween systems. In today’s con-nected car, however, theseseparate functions increasinglyconverge towards a single net-work – as has happened else-where.

Enterprises also experienced aproliferation of electronic net-works at the end of the 20th cen-tury: a corporate Ethernet lan, atelephone network, one connect-ing burglar alarms, one connect-ing fire alarms, maybe anotherconnecting access security onsome doors, another providing en-vironmental monitoring and con-



trol – let alone the machine con-trol networks also required on amanufacturing site.

But now all these independentnetworks are converging onto theEthernet system, and a host of dif-ferent wiring networks are beingreplaced by a single IT networkthat allows all the separate func-tions to continue as if they stillhad their own independent wiringsystem.

The same convergence has beenhappening in the car. When oncethere would be separate sets ofwires going to the brake lights,fuel gauge, indicators and so on,increasingly these are usingdifferent protocols to share a

common network.However, the challenge in any

complex system is that it is verydifficult to predict exactly how itwill behave when new factors areadded. The Ethernet packets car-rying voice messages on the cor-porate network have very differentneeds to the signals carrying a firealarm, for example; so if the onenetwork is going to serve a host ofnew services then the only sureway to know that it will continueto work under all circumstances isto test it rigorously under all real-istic and extreme operating condi-tions.

The same will apply as cars be-come more connected.

Externally connectedFor at least five years it has beenpossible for fleet operators to buylarge lorries with their own con-nection to headquarters. Automat-ically feeding back informationabout the vehicle’s position,speed, fuel levels, tyre pressures,engine temperature and so on, al-lows the operator to monitor thedriver’s behaviour – whetherbreaking any health and safetyregulations by speeding or nottaking a break – and provides ad-vance warning if the vehicle needsservicing.

The big manufacturers such asScania, Volvo and Renault all de-veloped their own proprietarycommunications technologies tomaintain competitive advantage,and these have typically relied onthe existing mobile phone net-works. As proprietary systems,there is little scope for intercon-necting them, so the fleet operatormight now have to cope with sev-eral different communicationssystems.

In addition to this one-way flowof information to HQ, there havebeen other links towards the vehi-cle. Global navigation satellitesystems (GNSS) and other posi-tioning signals can provide navi-gation and telematics; Bluetoothcan enable hands-free telephoneuse and media; and RDS canbroadcast warnings of weather ortraffic information over radio fre-quencies. For private motoriststhese X2car communications havebecome the norm, while car2Xservices, where the car communi-cates outwards, or even car2carexchanges between vehicles are arelatively new development,

In Europe, for example, an e-call system is being rolled out to

Fig. 1: Google searches for the term “connected car” since 2005

BMW expects to make growing use of Ethernet technology

Big lorry makers such as Scania developed their own proprietary communications technologies

contact emergency services auto-matically in the event of a crashand send event information andlocation. Similar capabilities existin North America with GM’s On-star service, while Russia’s ERA-Glonass system is said to be fullyinteroperable with e-call. Mean-while, a 1100km co-operative in-telligent transport systems(C-ITS) corridor is being devel-oped between Rotterdam, Frank-furt and Vienna to enable two-waycommunications between vehiclesand the surrounding road infra-structure. This will begin withsimple warnings such as roadworks ahead and anonymised datagathering for road operators, thenbe extended through sensor fusionto more advanced assisted drivingservices in coming years.

Of particular interest to thedriver is the potential for internetconnection. So far this has mostlybeen served by routing an internetconnection via a secure virtualprivate network (VPN) tunnel tothe vehicle manufacturer’s dedi-cated data centre. As the technol-ogy becomes more mainstream,this would overwhelm availablebandwidth, so vehicles will in-creasingly have their own, directconnection to the internet – withall the attendant opportunities andsecurity challenges.

Internally connectedConvergence within the car isstarting to replace independentwiring systems with internal net-works, using different protocols todeliver key electronic, monitoring

and diagnostic functions. This in-ternal connectivity presents imme-diate challenges for OEMs tolaunch new vehicles that will beon the roads for the next ten years– whereas the more radicalcar2car systems will take longer;market surveys suggest that theirtrue benefits will only be realisedafter reaching a critical mass ofmore than 20% of users.

Currently, the Can bus is mostoften used as an automotive back-bone network, despite its speedand load limitations, while Linprovides a low-cost network forvehicle body applications, Mostfibres deliver in-vehicle media,and high-speed Flexray enables x-by-wire capabilities, such asbrake-by-wire, along with otherfunctions where speed and relia-



Testing of an ecall system to make sure the emergency call has been successfully routed(Photo: Innovits Advance)

bility are paramount.For next generation vehicles,

however, Ethernet will providethe network backbone, as in thecorporate network but also as ameans to reduce weight. Vehicleweight is becoming increasinglyimportant, leading to the use oflighter materials such as alu-minium and carbon fibre whileeven Ethernet has been pareddown to automotive Ethernet, de-veloped to run on unshieldedtwisted pair wiring to weigh lessthan traditional eight-wire Ether-net cable. To create an industrystandard, the Open Alliance hasadopted the Broad R-Reach(OABR) two-wire automotiveEthernet as the de-facto physicallayer standard, clearing the wayfor its widespread adoption.

By simplifying a vehicle’swiring loom, with less copper andduplicated network hardware,OABR is significantly lighter thanequivalent existing technologies.It also reduces connectivity costsby 80% and improves vehicle effi-ciency. It can still deliver100Mbit/s, and this capacity willbe needed as advanced driver as-sistance systems (adas) and con-nected car functions escalatedemands for complexity andbandwidth. BMW has alreadyachieved cabling cost reductionsby using Broad R-Reach Ethernetto deliver vehicles with all-roundcamera coverage, and expects tomake growing use of the technol-ogy. ABI Research predicted thatEthernet penetration in new carsworldwide would grow from 1%in 2014 to 40% by 2020.

One downside of the growingcomplexity made possible in vehi-cle computing, infotainment andsecurity is that future connected

vehicles will require software up-dates on a regular basis. However,what would be an all-day garagetask on the current Can networkcould be carried out over Ethernetwhile the owner waits – or evenconducted over-the-air with noneed to visit a garage.

Automotive EthernetThe application of any new tech-nology – especially where safetyis involved as in a moving vehicle– raises the question whether itcan be relied upon to work at alltimes.

Ethernet is already well estab-lished in the IT sector and OEMsare able to purchase confidentlysystems that have been tested byvendors and debugged throughyears of extensive use. So littleconformance testing is neededduring product developmentphase. But the same cannot besaid for automotive networks.OABR automotive Ethernet hasjust started to be adopted and itwould be unwise to rely too heav-ily upon these new bus systemswithout thorough testing. Vehiclemanufacturers also have greaterresponsibility for safety and relia-bility than in the IT industry.

With brand reputation, multi-bil-lion dollar recalls and, ultimately,customers’ lives at stake, automo-tive companies must place evengreater importance upon testing atevery stage within the supplychain. The system needs to workunder all likely environmentalconditions – during rain, snow,high and low temperatures andlevels of vibration seldom experi-enced in ordinary IT networks.The car industry is accustomed torecreating that sort of test condi-tion, but Ethernet testing presents

a new challenge. As well as beinga new technology, it faces a rangeof hacking and denial of serviceattacks that have grown up in theIT environment. The risk ofcyber-attack brings automotiveinto the frontline of the world ofIT security – a problem that isprobably evolving faster than anyother aspect of vehicle develop-ment.

Although automotive networkshave very specialised require-ments, the broad framework fortesting automotive Ethernet canbe developed from well-estab-lished best practice for networktesting in the IT industry. Fourtypes of test are needed:

• Conformance testing ensuresprotocols function correctly andmeet approved standards. Thiswill remain important until OABRis so well established that OEMscan leave it to their vendors.• Negative testing confirms howthe system responds when it en-counters errors, unexpected ornonstandard signals, or no signalat all. This includes fuzzing to testevery possible permutation closeto the expected action – such as adriver missing the correct buttonand hitting an adjacent one. Ex-haustive negative testing is partic-ularly important in automotivescenarios, where a vehicle mustremain safe at all times.• Performance testing checks howmuch load the system can bear,and what happens when this limitis exceeded. For example, whenfaced with a sudden surge in de-mand for network bandwidth, cana vehicle still identify, prioritiseand deliver the most importantmessages, such as brake function?• Security testing is becoming in-

creasingly important for the auto-motive industry. Although Canand other bus networks can becompromised, the specialised in-terface restricts the practical threatto an extremely low level. How-ever, the standardised nature ofEthernet means that hacking toolsand techniques are widely avail-able and attacks could be madethrough any external connections.

ConclusionConnecting vehicles will enablethe automotive industry to provideusers with new features to im-prove driving and travelling expe-riences. Some new features, suchas video cameras and other driverassistance systems, are alreadystarting to appear in current mod-

els, while others, such as fully au-tonomous driving, will take a lotlonger to implement.

To deliver these new features,vehicle manufacturers will need toembrace more new technologiesthat have been developed in the ITindustry. Some, such as Bluetoothand GPS, are already incorpo-rated, but others, such as automo-tive Ethernet and Wifi, willbecome critical to the develop-ment of connected cars. As a vehi-cle becomes more like a computernetwork on wheels, ensuring thesenew features work properly pres-ents a new challenge to the autoindustry.

The good news on Ethernet isthat the principles behind the un-derlying technology are already

well understood in the IT industryand specialist test tools and tech-niques have been developed andare available in increasingly sim-ple, easy to use formats. Work hasalready started on adapting theseto OABR and the specialisedneeds of the automotive industry –for example there is already an in-terface card available to connecttwo-wire OABR to the most so-phisticated network test devices,allowing all the above types oftest to be customised to match re-alistic and extreme operating con-ditions in the vehicle.

Peter Nicholson is generalmanager of the automotivebusiness unit at SpirentCommunications

PRODUCTS

Vehicle Electronics Vehicle ElectronicsPage 31, October 2014 October 2014, Page 32

PRODUCTS

For the automotive test-ing market with specificfeatures such as odometerconnection and preciseRTK GNSS positioning,the Ellipse series ofminiature inertial sensorsfrom SBG Systems hasbeen introduced to re-place the company’s IG-500 series.

For the same cost, userswill get higher accuracy,advanced filtering andfeatures inspired fromhigh-end inertial naviga-tion systems.

“We have selectedstate-of-the-art memssensors, especially verylow noise gyroscopes thatgreatly enhance Ellipseperformance,” said AlexisGuinamard, CTO of SBG

Systems. “We integrateda cutting-edge GNSS re-ceiver while keeping asmall size.”

Weighing from 45g, thesensors are flexible. TheEllipse-A model provides3D orientation and heave.For navigation, users canconnect a GPS with theEllipse-E, or use the inter-nal one by choosing theEllipse-N model. The El-lipse-D is a little largerbecause it integrates asurvey-grade L1 and L2GNSS receiver with twoantennas for heading andposition accuracy.

“Being the only one onthe market to design bothhigh-end and entry-levelsensors, we are able toupgrade miniature sen-

Inertial sensors integrate GNSS

sors capabilities by inject-ing some advanced andproven filtering and fea-tures inspired from high-end inertial navigationsystems” said Guina-mard. “Additionally tohigher accuracy, weadded for the samebudget an improved FIRand rejection filtering, ro-bust IP68 enclosure, high

output rate, RTK correc-tions, automatic align-ment, and so on.”

The sensor embeds aGNSS receiver with oneor two antennas; it can beconnected to an odome-ter, and reaches centime-tre level accuracy. Itsanti-jamming filters en-sure robust position dur-ing GPS outages.

Aimed at battery chargersfor energy storage in elec-tric vehicles, UL listed,RoHS-compliant, preci-sion current shunts areavailable from Riedon.For DC ammeters andsimilar instruments, theRS off-the-shelf, base-mounted shunts providecurrents from 5 to 1200A.

As well as EVs, theyare for the renewables en-ergy market, for solar ar-rays and wind turbines,and in heavy industry.

The principle of currentmeasurement using ashunt resistor depends onmeasuring the small volt-age dropped across a pre-cision resistor placed inseries with the load. Thestandard parts provide 50and 100mV outputs butcustom output voltagesare also available.

The resistance valuesrequired for shunt resis-tors – 10mΩ at 5A and0.05mΩ at 1000A – are

provided by Manganinresistive elements. Theseare precision etched to astandard tolerance of±0.25%, with ±0.1% de-vices also available.

“Our in-house manu-facturing and design ca-pability is what setsRiedon apart from manyother suppliers,” said PhilEbbert, Riedon’s VP ofengineering. “We cancompete on price and de-livery while also support-ing custom designs. And,as far as I know, Riedon isthe only manufacturer tooffer precision DC am-meter shunts that are ULapproved and fully RoHScompliant.”

The range is dividedinto three body stylesdetermined by currentrating. All have a four-terminal design, whichseparates the heavy-dutyload carrying connectionsfrom the voltage sensingterminals.

DC currentshunts ratedup to 1.2kA

The MC AT Professionalseries of automotive thinfilm chip resistors fromVishay Intertechnology isAEC-Q200-qual i f iedover its resistance rangefrom 1Ω to 1MΩ.

Designed to deliverstability under harshenvironmental conditionsin automotive and indus-trial applications, theBeyschlag devices canwork at +175˚C for 1000hours.

Offered in case sizesfrom 0402 to 1206, theyhave tolerances from±0.5% to ±1% and TCRfrom ±25 to ±50ppm/K.Power rating is 400mW at+85˚C in the 1206 casesize.

With their moisture andsulphur resistivity, operat-ing voltages from 50 to200V, and 1kV ESD ca-

pability, the devices’ typ-ical applications will in-clude engine controlunits, climate control,braking systems, powersupplies, lighting andsensors in vehicles, tele-coms base stations, andindustrial and medicalmeasurement equipment.

They are approved toEN 140401-801. Suitablefor processing on auto-matic SMD assemblysystems, the devices areRoHS-compliant andcompatible with Pb-freeand tin-lead reflow andvapour-phase solderingprocesses.

The MCS0402AT hasresistances from 2.42Ω to221kΩ, the MCT0603ATfrom 1Ω to 511kΩ, andthe MCU0805AT andMCA1206AT from 1Ω to1MΩ.

Thin film resistorsmeet AEC-Q200

TVS diodes optimised forautomotive applicationshave been introduced byLittelfuse. The TPSMCand TPSMD can protectsensitive electronicequipment from voltagetransients induced by loaddump and other transient

TVS diodes guard against load dumpvoltage events.

These AEC-Q101 qual-ified devices have peakpulse power dissipationratings of 1500W(TPSMC) or 3000W(TPSMD) in a standardDO-214AB package.Both suit DC power pro-tection and ESD protec-tion applications inautomotive electronicssuch as electronic controlunits, sensors and enter-tainment systems, as wellas in portable devices thatrequire high reliability.

“The TPSMC and

TPSMD series offer peakpulse power dissipationratings that are ideal forautomotive applications,”said Charles Cai, productmarketing manager.“They allow automotivepower systems to pass thedifferent 1, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b,and 5b surge tests opera-tionally as specified byISO7637-2. This standardis widely used in the au-tomotive industry as thebasis for transient specifi-cations.”

Devices in both seriesoffer wide standoff volt-

age ranges, which fulfildesign requirements forautomotive applications.Both unidirectional andbidirectional polarity de-vices in the TPSMC se-ries provide a standoffvoltage range of 10 to77V. Unidirectional po-larity devices in theTPSMD range have astandoff voltage of 10 to43V.

They comply with IEC61000-4-2 and IEC610000-4-4, which helpsdesigners meet globalregulatory standards.

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Vehicle ElectronicsPage 33, October 2014

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Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 34

Applications in harsh en-vironments such as trans-portation should benefitfrom the HectronicH6066, a Com Expressmodule based on the sec-ond generation AMDEmbedded G-Series SoCwith quad-core proces-sors.

It is specified for an in-dustrial operating temper-ature from -40 to +85˚C.The form factor is ComExpress pinout type sixand the board measures95 by 95mm.

Designed to withstandvibration, dust, damp, andcold and warm surround-ing temperatures, theboard is powered by -4.75to +20V. Componentsspecified for extended op-erating temperatures are

Com Express module basedon quad-core processor

used and memories aresoldered to the board.Soldered flash SSD stor-age and conformal coat-ing are optional.

The board targets appli-cations within defence,transportation, maritime,medical and industrial au-tomation.

The graphics engine in-tegrated in the processoris the AMD Radeon HD8000E, which can be usedfor general purpose GPUcomputing by taking ad-

vantage of AMD’s OpenCL support.

“The combination ofpowerful quad-coreprocessors, excellentgraphics and the possibil-ity to develop rugged sys-tems for harshenvironments are the rea-sons why H6066 will beinteresting to use in manyapplications,” said RobertHelenius, product man-ager at Hectronic.

IO includes four PCIExpress ports, two USB3.0, eight USB 2.0 andthree Sata ports. Dual in-dependent displays can beconnected to dual 24bitLVDS and one of the dig-ital display interfaces –DVl, HDMI, Displayportor VGA. The board sup-ports up to 4Gbyte on-

board soldered DDRIIIdram, as well as an on-board soldered BGA SataFlash SSD of up to32Gbyte.

There are two versions.The first is based on theGX-411GA processor(15W) specified for anoperating temperature of-40 to +85˚C. The secondis based on the GX-420CA processor (25W)for use in temperaturesfrom 0 to +60˚C.

The company has de-veloped a bios for themodule based on thePhoenix Securecore Uefibios. Board support pack-ages for XP Embedded,Windows EmbeddedStandard 7, WindowsEmbedded 8 and Linuxare provided.

Tactile dome switch con-tacts for use in interiorcontrol applications suchas steering wheels andclimate control have beenintroduced by Snaptron.

The SQ snap domeshave a four-leg designthat is essentially squarein shape. This increasesthe cycle rated to ten mil-lion cycles, twice that ofthe company’s standarddomes.

The wide shape in-creases actuation forcesrelative to size. For exam-ple, a 12mm four-leg star-shape design can be madewith a maximum tripforce in the 400 to 450grange before the life ofthe dome begins to dimin-ish. They can also bemade with a trip force of1200g or more, and stillhave a life specificationtwice that of a traditional

four-leg dome.There will initially be

nine standard parts rang-ing in sizes from 4 to12mm. Custom domescan be made in varioussizes and trip forces inabout four weeks. All arestainless steel with nickelplating to improve con-tact resistance.

Included in the line-upis a micro-dome – theSQ04200N. This meas-

Tactile domes provide high cycle rates

ures 4mm across and hasa side measurement of3.3mm. In addition tobeing small, it has a 200gtrip force and is rated toten million cycles.

At next month’s Electron-ica in Munich, Swissbitwill show the X-60 seriesof Sata III firmware andhardware technologiesthat combine a speed ofup 490Mbyte/s with relia-bility for automotive, in-dustrial and telecomsmarkets. The companydevelops and producesmodels for each segment

with technically adaptedfeatures.

The series is availablewith capacities from 15 to480Gbyte and variousform factors, includingmSata, Slim Sata, M.2and CFast. Samples of themSata will be availableearly next year, with theother form factors follow-ing throughout 2015.

Sata III at Electronica

The Bluecontact familyof Cube drive controlmodules from Erni Elec-tronics has been ex-pended. The modulesprovide in their full con-figuration high power cir-cuits controlled by Cannetworks in rough envi-ronments.

The units suit powerdistribution systems thatcontrol relays and moni-tor fuses and relays. Theyhave a 195 by 195mmfootprint and are 78mmhigh.

They can be configuredto provide various OEMcircuit protection andswitching functions,using standard fuses, re-lays and circuit breakers,with the status and con-trol of each circuit acces-sible through J1939 or

Canopen messages.Based on press-fit tech-

nology, they are suitablefor commercial, agricul-ture and construction ve-hicles. Applicationsinclude heavy trucks,construction, agriculture,military, transit bus andcoach, marine, recre-ational vehicles, and spe-cialty vehicles.

Made as a hardened andweather tight system, theproducts are rated up to300A. Operational volt-age is 9 to 32V.

Each Cube integrates:two main inputs rated upto 150A each; 12 pre-fused relays outputs ratedup to 25A; seven fusedoutputs rated up to 25A;two pre-fused relays out-put rated up to 70A; fourhigh-side outputs up to

3A per output; three low-side outputs up to 250mAper output; and switchingof plus, ground or bothtogether, depending onthe input.

They have a heavy-dutyhousing and are specifiedfor -40 to +85˚C with -40to +125˚C available onrequest. Depending on re-quirements, the units can

be configured with up to21 power outputs, Canand Lin support and up toIP69 protection (standardIP20).

There are three standardconfigurations – basic,experts and experts plus –and each can be adjustedinto custom versions con-figured to OEM wiringrequirements.

Control module rangefor heavy-duty vehicles

Stop-start at CV showMitsubishi Electricshowed a range of stop-start systems and alterna-tor technology for busand lorry applications atthe IAA Commercial Ve-hicle show in Hannoverfrom 25 September to 2October.

“This is a key show forus,” said Hiroaki Kondo,president of the com-pany’s automotive busi-ness in Europe, “as welook to strengthen our po-

sition in the Europeancommercial vehicles mar-ket.”

Mitsubishi already has astrong foothold in thepassenger vehicle marketwith multimedia systems,hybrid and electric vehi-cle components, electricpower steering systems,and electrical and engineair management systems.

The company was alsoshowing its EGR valvesand turbo actuators.

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Editor and Publisher:Steve [email protected]

Advertising Manager:Jayne [email protected]

Web Site Manager:Martin [email protected]

Published by: Vehicle Electronics Magazine,72 Westwood Road, Nottingham NG2 4FS, UK

Web site: vehicle-electronics.bizTwitter: @velectronicsmag

© 2014 Vehicle ElectronicsISSN 2055-1177

Vehicle Electronics is available to readers world-wide. It will be published approximately twelvetimes a year in a digital-only format. All rights re-served. No part of Vehicle Electronics may be re-porduced or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical, including photo-copying or recording on any information storagesystem, without the written consent of the pub-lisher. The publisher cannot be held responsiblefor loss or damge to unsolicited press releases orphotographs. Views of contributors and advertis-ers do not necessarily refelect the policy ofVehicle Electronics or those of the publisher.

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Vehicle Electronics October 2014, Page 36Vehicle ElectronicsPage 35, October 2014

Amphenol has enhancedits nine-way AT circularseries receptacle line byadding one with a smallerflange so it can be fittedto all heavy equipmentvehicles. The ATC-09-9-1939PN meets SAEJ1939, a specification forcommunications and di-agnostics in industrial ve-hicle components.

Used as a diagnosticconnector in applications

on construction and farmequipment as well as inheavy-duty trucks, theseround receptacles includea strain relief for thewires coming out of theback of each unit and awave spring for highervibration applications.

A simple jam nutmounting suits quick as-sembly and the smallerflange saves space onmating panels. Corrosion

Smaller flange suits heavy vehiclesresistant, these heavy-duty industrial connectorsare environmentallysealed against moistureand contaminants. Theyare water resistant up toone metre. An optionalsealing cap for the matinginterface is available.

The reverse bayonetcoupling design allowsfor quick mating and un-mating. Easily withstand-ing more than 100 matingcycles, the contact reten-tion system helps de-crease installation costsand increase reliability.

These RoHS-compliantconnectors work with in-dustry standard size 16contacts and are madefrom copper alloy, withnickel and gold platingavailable.

Operating temperaturerange is -55 to +125˚C.

Three debugging prod-ucts from Segger Micro-controller can improvedata visualisation andcommunications betweenhost and target. Availablefrom Phaedrus Systems,they are the J-Scope datavisualisation software, J-Link real-time terminaland a beta release of thestand-alone debuggersoftware. These are foruse with Segger’s J-Linkfamily of debug probes.

J-Scope works in realtime to display an accu-rate representation of thesampled variables. Thisallows the engineer togain deeper understand-ing of the embedded ap-plication while it isrunning.

It is powered by J-Link

Debugger software trioimproves communications

HSS, which can continu-ously sample variables athigh speed through thestandard debug interfacewithout affecting the tar-get processor’s real-timeperformance. Runningautonomously, for highsampling rates and pre-cise timing, it displaysboth values and an oscil-loscope-like trace. Typi-cal applications includemonitoring a networkstack or the three-phase

50Hz signal of a motorcontrol application.

The J-Link improvescommunications betweenthe host developmentcomputer and the targetsystem by at least anorder of magnitude ineach direction, providedthe CPU allows access tothe background memorythrough the debug inter-face.

Messages are sent to thehost without halting the

target system, taking lessthan a microsecond tosend a one-line text mes-sage from an Arm Cor-tex-M or a Renesas RXbased system.

Written in C, it worksthrough a Telnet applica-tion with an IDE and de-bugger.

The debugger softwareis a graphical tool thatworks with J-Link and J-Trace probes to improveembedded system debug-ging, without using thecompiler’s IDE debugger.It works at both C sourceand assembly languagelevels and can also beused to debug target-resi-dent applications, withoutthe source. A beta versionis available for downloadnow.

The UMDZ LTE datacommunications modulefrom Alps Electric will bemarketed for automotiveuse from next year.

High-speed data com-munications linking vehi-cles to the outside worldare attracting interest as ameans for obtaining des-tination and road infor-mation, updating maps,and performing otherfunctions required bynavigation systems.

Besides conforming toradio laws in each coun-try, devices implementingLTE technology must un-dergo interoperabilitytesting and certificationfor each telecoms carrier.

The company plans tomarket the product as theworld’s smallest for auto-motive use, with dimen-sions of 28.9 by 29.8 by4.22mm, achieved by op-timising the productstructure using RF andevaluation technologies.The module will supportthree modes – 2G, 3G andLTE – and worldwide usein regions including Eu-rope, North America,China and Japan.

LTE moduletargeted atautomotive

Connectors fit 3U racksFor on-board or on-ground train control mon-itoring and informationmanagement systems, theMSG 3U connector fromSouriau complies with theEN 45545 smoke and firestandard. It has been de-veloped for 3U racks.

It is shielded inside ametal hood on the plugand receptacle sides forprotection against electro-magnetic interference andsignal degradation.

There are three layouts

– with 29 and 41 standardcontacts and with up tofive Quadrax Ethernetcontacts. The Quadraxversion can transmit sig-nals at up to 100Mbit/sand the design allowsusers to select grounded

or ungrounded contacts.The tool-less locking

and unlocking system andfront accessibility aresuitable for night-timemaintenance jobs with lit-tle disruption to trainservices.

new japan radio commences pmic shipments to tier ones · the automotive ic sec - tor,” said jh...

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