Automotive electronics as one of the microelectronics priorities of MEDEA+.
A) Automotive and Automotive electronic industry perspectives
Since the beginning of this year, forecasts for the automotive industry are being revised and worsened periodically. The automobile industry is or will be - may be as the last one - affected by the overall weakness in the economies as well. The number of world-wide produced cars will most probably drop by 2,5% compared to the year 2000. Declines in Japan and North America are even more severe. Though the world-wide production of cars is declining, the increased demand for more electronics in automobiles is almost compensating this impact. Interesting - and this is contrary to many other segments - in the automotive semiconductor application market there have been practically no drops in pricing. It can be expected, that at least for the coming five years, consumption of semiconductors for automotive will grow faster than the overall semiconductor growth rate. But reflecting that this sector requests only about 10% of the total semiconductor market, the automotive application alone cannot lead to a revitalisation of the total semiconductor market.
B) Technological challenges
There are four requirements that can be summarized in 4 slogans which neatly combine the end users?vision and the resulting mission for the engineers:
"Collision-free driving": Today's safety belts and antilock braking systems (ABS) were just the start of improving car safety through skillful use of electronics. The electronic stability program ESP followed. The integration of ABS with ESP and with the innovative electronic "brake-by-wire systems" is on its way. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) - a speed control system that automatically maintains a safe distance from the traffic ahead (with the aid of radar sensors) - is being enhanced to function also under stop-and-go traffic conditions. The next challenge is "integrated vehicle dynamics management systems", that offer improved safety and mobility, thanks to an optimized coupling between tire and electronic vehicle control technologies. One key benefit will be reduced braking distance.
"3 liter car" Energy management is one of the key issues on global scale concerning both energy usage and pollution control. Demands to reduce both the usage and the potential pollution can only be met with microprocessor-controlled engine management systems. New systems like "integrated powertrain management" allow already to save up to 14% fuel.
"Zero emission vehicle": Zero emission can certainly not be reached in fuel-powered cars. But thanks to electronics gasoline as well as diesel-powered cars have lower fuel consumption and consequently reduced CO2 emissions to keep the greenhouse effect in check. One manufacturer has also found a system to cut diesel particulates by 80%.
Fuel-cell powered cars will obviously also heavily depend on innovative electronics.
"Living room on wheels" and "Office on wheels". New ICT and telematics technologies systems - on board computer and communication equipment, wireless voice and data communication linking the car to home, office, and other domains - will enable electronic communication of safety, congestion, and other information to drivers.
Electronics advances will also lead to new comfort features like personalised programmable seats, mirrors, climate control, and music selection systems, as well as heads-up flat panel displays and voice controls.
The manufacturers invest a lot in the design of interfaces that hide the complexity of on-board devices while making them easier to use. But mostly requiring additional electronics.
C) MEDEA+ View on "Automotive electronics"
When identifying the main work areas one year ago, MEDEA+ was well aware of the strategic importance of Automotive Industry as growth engine for national economies and employment; but also of challenges of Automotive Electronics and in particular of new and enhanced features and solutions required for in-car communication, personal safety and environmental protection. To contribute to GNPs in Europe, but also to support society in solving latent environmental and safety problems caused by ever increasing traffic, MEDEA+ has selected "Automotive electronics" as one of the 10 "work areas" of the MEDEA+ programme.
D) MEDEA+ activities / projects in this work area
Following the 1st and 2nd call for MEDEA+ project proposals, one very large applications project and 4 projects in "enabling technologies" for Automotive electronics have been labeled, and the R&D project consortia have started their activities.
A404 - Silicon Systems For Automotive Electronics Based on the experience of 2 major European car manufacturers and on the results of the earlier MEDEA project "Sysnet", a new electronics architecture for replacing electrical wires by multiplexed networks shall be developed by a consortium of more than a dozen partners (car makers, automotive electronics suppliers, IC suppliers). The implementation of an electronic architecture is the only economical way to respond precisely to the consumers requirements, for specific car body and comfort functions, and to the drivers' growing needs for audio and video information through multimedia and telematics.
T102 - Application Specific Design for ESD and Substrate Effects The business objectives of the project are to reduce design cycle time, increase productivity, and to improve product reliability. The overall technical objective is to develop and verify simulation guided design methodologies in order to prevent undesirable electrostatic discharge (ESD)-vulnerability or substrate effects in application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design.
T122 - Fitness of Advanced Semiconductor Processes for 42V Battery Supply in Automotive Applications Automotive ASICs of the future have to follow the trend to sustain higher voltages in a larger temperature range than usual today. The global goal of the project is to give an answer to the question, whether today's state of the art semiconductor processes are fit to be the base of advanced system designs, with special focus on the development of 42V power supplies for automobiles.
T124 - High Operating Temperature Systems on Chip, Assembly and Reliability (HOTCAR) The next generation of automotive electronic control units (ECU) is expected to be mounted close or directly onto the actuator. The components have to bear high ambient temperatures of up to 200?C and rapid temperature cycles between -40?C and the maximum temperature. Therefore the primary technical goal of this project is to achieve and demonstrate system-level solutions for high-temperature automotive applications, beneficial also to other branches.
T503 - Novel Packaging Technologies for Highly Integrated MICROmodules for next Generation Telecom and Automotive Products The aim of this project is to develop novel design methods, production concepts and qualification tools for next generation of micro-modules and micro-components using highly integrated ICs and multilayer substrates.
Finally, also other Application projects although not directly targetting at the automotive market, will bring new features in the area of design as well as communications, applicable to automotive electronics.
To summarise: "Automotive electronics" is very much a driver for the electronics industry, and MEDEA+ wants to be in the drivers seat!!
