Packaging Chips For <span style='color:red'>Cars</span>
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Packaging Chips For Cars

As the complexity of automotive chips grows, so does the complexity of the package. In fact, packaging is becoming increasingly crucial to the performance and reliability of the chips, and both parts need to meet stringent safety standards before they are used inside a vehicle.This is true for all safety-critical applications, but for automotive in particular there are several key reasons why packaging has taken on a whole new level of interest:• Performance and low power. Advanced packaging options can reduce the bottlenecks for the flow of data, speeding up response time for critical systems, particularly accident avoidance in autonomous and driver-assisted vehicles.• Reuse and time to market. Standardized packaging, such as chiplets, can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to bring automotive chips and features to market. Automotive OEMs have been struggling to reduce time to market for designs from as long as seven years to one or two years.• Protection. Harsh environmental conditions and an almost constant assault of vibration, electromagnetic interference and thermal extremes make packaging critical to protect the chips.This is all good news for the outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT) packaging houses, which are churning out a number of packaging options for this market. Among those are multiple flavors of wafer-level fan-outs, embedded wafer-level ball-grid array, package-on-package, and system-in-package.To put this in perspective, automotive accounted for 9% of primary end markets last year for semiconductors, IC Insights estimates. This is a significant market in its own right, and it is growing quickly. The majority of chips produced still end up in communications or computers, but automotive several years ago was a small fraction of the overall chip market. It is growing quickly, and so is the value of the chips that are sold into this market.In the past, the automotive chip market was all about actuators and low-end microcontrollers. There are advanced designed being developed for vehicles today at 10/7nm, with plans to push that to even lower-node manufacturing processes.“It’s a huge market so far,” says Edward Fontanilla, group deputy director for technology strategy at JCET, the parent company of STATS ChipPAC. He says the total available market for OEMs in automotive was $136 billion in 2017 and will enjoy a compound annual growth rate of 13.4%, reaching $170 billion in 2022.Chips going into advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and other vehicle applications alone represent a $28 billion market, according to Fontanilla. In total, 20% of automotive chips will be going into infotainment systems, while powertrain components will account for 13%, he says.Gartner forecasts the worldwide semiconductor market will grow to $451 billion this year, up 7.5% from last year’s $419 billion. Automotive will help drive demand for application-specific standard products this year, the market research firm predicts, along with graphics cards for gaming PCs, high-performance computing, and wired communications.The top suppliers of automotive chips are NXP Semiconductors, Infineon Technologies, and Renesas Electronics, he noted. They are followed by STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments, according to Semicast Research. Rounding out the top 10 are Robert Bosch, ON Semiconductor, Microchip Technology, Toshiba, and ROHM Semiconductor, in that order.Among the OSATs providing packaging for auto chips, Amkor Technology is the market leader, with 56% share. Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) holds about 25%, while STATS ChipPAC represents less than 5%, Fontanilla says.“Although we are not yet the same as far as Amkor and ASE in terms of automotive, we are looking to the future where we can also leverage on the big customers we have,” he adds. “We’re focusing mainly on infotainment, the advanced driver-assistance systems, the body systems, electric vehicles, as well as the aftermarket segment.” JCET is also focusing on LiDAR sensors and radar. “These are the key segments we are focusing on in 2018,” he says, adding that it will take five years for ADAS and automated driving to be fully realized.The special requirements for automotive semiconductor packaging depend on the customer involved. “We are more interested on the reliability side, because we all know that zero defects are the safety concern of our user,” Fontanilla says. “Another special requirement for automotive chip packaging, of course, is the process flow of the packaging. They are different from the standard chips. Automotive is tighter in terms of process control and quality control.”Zero defects is the new bar for automotive OEMs, and that is true for the chips inside a package as well as for the package. To ensure there are no defects, automotive chip packaging has a special inspection methodology. So as with the manufacturing of automotive chips, the packaging equipment is dedicated and designated and generally kept separate from other packaging lines. Every six months, the operators and engineers involved in automotive chip packaging go through training refreshment.In addition to the ISO 26262 standard for functional safety, the ISO 16949 standard for quality management systems in the automotive industry supply chain must be met. STATS ChipPAC expects to be certified on 26262 this year, first in Singapore, then in South Korea and China.Some similarities in packaging automotive chips and other chips exist. The process flow is similar in laminate substrates and leaded packages, Fontanilla says. The bill of materials set for automotive chips is different, however, and customers are willing to pay for that. One leading customer, not identified, accounts for $7 million a month in automotive chip packaging, he notes.The next-generation automotive electronics “will be a lot of sensors — not only a hundred sensors, but more and more sensors going on,” Fontanilla adds. “The avoidance of collisions, parking systems, brake systems, everything will be automated.”Revving up designsJean-Marc Yannou, senior technical director at the ASE Europe unit of ASE Group, says the packaging of automotive chips is often similar to the packaging of chips destined for consumer applications. That’s a big change from several years ago.“Technology needed to be mature for a good five years before it would be adopted in the past,” says Yannou. “The timeframe is shortening now. And we don’t need to change the materials.”One issue in manufacturing was motor contamination, which eventually led to reliability problems, Yannou notes. Corrosion could result.Packaging serves a vital role here, and it will become even more important as chips are relied upon to avoid accidents at high speed. But ask two people what kind of package is best for this market and you will likely end up with multiple answers. All of them can play a role — leadframes, laminates, packaging using wire bonding for the interconnections, and flip-chip packages.Fan-out wafer-level packaging and system-in-package technology are also finding their way into advanced automotive electronics. Automotive manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers are shying away from SiP, at least for now, due to the higher packaging cost. SiP can be complicated for those companies, although they are becoming attracted to the “increasingly compact” nature of SiP, Yannou says.The kinds of components going into cars include microcontrollers, sensors, radar chips, Internet protocol chips, and sensor-based electronics. “Automotive chip packaging is one of the fastest growing markets for us,” Yannou says. It now represents about 10% of the semiconductor packaging market, with a growth rate of 10% to 15% a year.This isn’t just more chips, though. It’s more chips that have to work correctly, and packaging is a key component of that, says Prasad Dhond, vice president and general manager of automotive at Amkor Technology.“The ‘multiplier effect’ is a big challenge in automotive semiconductor reliability,” he notes. “This is where a 1 part per million failure at the component level will translate to a 1% defect rate in the vehicle. For the highest reliability, we need zero defects. Packaging has a big role to play in achieving zero defects in automotive applications.”Some of that is being driven by standards, which are not ordinarily associated with packaging. “ISO 26262 is related to functional safety and bulk of the compliance falls on chip and system designers. We support customers who have ISO 26262-compliant solutions by supplying supporting documentation as needed. We also help customers meet other automotive reliability standards, such as AEC-Q100 and AEC-Q006. We are developing automotive material sets and process flows to help our customers drive toward zero defects.”Amkor offers 40 different package families to its automotive customers, at 11 automotive production facilities, all but one of which are in the Asia-Pacific region. The company has been active in packaging auto chips for more than four decades. Between Amkor and J-Devices, the auto chip packaging business represents more than $1 billion in annual revenue.Dhond points to three main requirements to be a successful automotive OSAT:• Quality systems based on automotive standards. This includes automotive certifications such as IATF16949 and compliance with AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) standards such as FMEA, SPC, APQP.• Tighter manufacturing controls, enhanced material sets, and additional process steps.• Capability to make significant capital outlays, manage a high-quality supply chain, and support production for a long period of time (10 to 15 years).Some in-cabin and aftermarket automotive applications (AEC-Q100 Grade 3) have the same reliability requirements as commercial-grade applications.“These components could use commercial-grade packaging materials and process flows, but still need enhanced automotive controls on the factory floor,” he says. “Overall, the automotive packaging market is about $10 billion, and growing faster than the overall packaging market. Electrification and ADAS are key trends driving this increase. Most automotive applications are using wire-bond packaging today, but they are moving to advanced packaging to support greater integration and lower parasitics. Traditionally, integrated device manufacturers have kept automotive packaging internal, but we see more of an outsourcing trend as demand increases. Also, fabless suppliers are becoming key players in the automotive market, giving tailwinds to the OSAT business.”On the fast trackThe automotive chip packaging market is on a fast track, with technology enabling advanced driver-assistance systems leading ultimately to automated driving. The OSAT contractors are deeply involved in the field, although some vendors of automotive chips are keeping their packaging work on the inside.That could change as this market begins to spike, and as complexity and time-to-market demands begin ratcheting up with increasing levels of driver assistance and autonomy. And so will the demands on the packaging houses to protect electronics that will work for extended periods of time under the worst conditions imaginable.
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Release time：2018-05-08 00:00 reading：1600 Continue reading>>
BMW to Use Innoviz Lidar for Autonomous <span style='color:red'>Cars</span>
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BMW to Use Innoviz Lidar for Autonomous Cars

 Innoviz Technologies of Israel is to supply its solid-state Lidar sensing to BMW Group for its autonomous vehicle production platforms. This is one of the first serial production contracts for solid-state lidar, according to a press statement from Canadian automotive supplier Magna, a collaborator with and strategic investor in Innoviz.Magna has been working with Innoviz Technologies to integrate automotive-grade, solid-state lidar (light detection and ranging) into its autonomous driving platform to support up to L4 and L5 self-driving systems across multiple vehicle platforms. The solid-state high-resolution lidar technology generates a 3D point cloud in real time of the vehicle’s surroundings, even in challenging settings such as direct sunlight, varying weather conditions, and multi-lidar environments. In addition, the solution provides a complete computer vision software stack and algorithms to turn 3D vision into critical driving insights."BMW is setting a high standard in autonomous vehicles development, and their vote of confidence in our lidar demonstrates how advanced our technology is," said Omer Keilaf, co-founder and CEO of Innoviz.Lidar Fills a Necessary Gap for Higher-Level Autonomous SensingABI Research forecasts that 8 million consumer vehicles shipping in 2025 will feature SAE Level 3 and 4 technologies, where drivers will still be necessary but are able to completely shift safety-critical functions to the vehicle under certain conditions, and SAE Level 5 technology, where no driver will be required at all. This, in turn, will help drive the shipments of vital lidar sensors that underpin the technology. As many as 36 million lidar units are expected to ship in 2025, corresponding to a market value of $7.2 billion."With the rapid development and deployment of various advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) packages by OEMs, higher-level automation represents the next suitable step," said Shiv Patel, a research analyst at ABI Research. "The primary functional sensor gap between today’s ADAS and higher-level autonomous vehicles will be filled with the addition of lidar, which will help to provide reliable obstacle detection and simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM)"ABI says that for conditional and high-level automation applications within the consumer market (SAE Level 3 and Level 4), solid-state lidar solutions from companies such as Innoviz and LeddarTech have emerged as the lidar form factor that will not only help enable robust sensing on autonomous vehicles but also, more importantly, satisfy stringent pricing requirements set by OEMs. These units are expected to reach price points of $200 and$750 per unit by 2020 for low- and high-end solutions, respectively. At this price, even with multiple sensors around the car, using solid-state lidar solutions represents a highly feasible option to OEMs on premium models.In fully autonomous applications (SAE Level 5) such as autonomous ridesharing, wherein the aim is to eliminate the driver completely, much more expensive, traditional mechanical lidar solutions, with their higher resolution for robust sensing, remain the go-to option.Players targeting the "robo-taxi" use case aren’t too concerned with vehicle ASPs, with their short-term "land-grab" objective being to maximize their share in the smart mobility market as it emerges. In these market conditions, it is purely a race to be the first to eliminate the driver, who represents the single biggest cost for these companies. Although the performance of solid-state lidar continues to improve, mechanical Lidar as part of a broader suite of other sensor types is currently seen as the only short-term option to enable full automation as soon as possible for these aggressive implementers.
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Release time：2018-05-02 00:00 reading：1125 Continue reading>>
European Automakers to Add Alibaba Voice Assistant to <span style='color:red'>Cars</span>
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European Automakers to Add Alibaba Voice Assistant to Cars

Ahead of this week’s Beijing Motor Show, three European car manufacturers have said that they will add Alibaba’s smart voice assistant to smart devices compatible with their connected car apps.Daimler, Audi, and Volvo car owners in China will be able to use Alibaba’s Tmall Genie voice-controlled assistant to monitor fuel levels, mileage, and engine and battery status, as well as control car doors, windows, and air conditioning from home via voice command. The feature is expected to launch in the near future — Volvo plans to use the Tmall Genie service on its XC90, S90, and XC60 models; Daimler and Audi haven’t yet specified which will implement the voice assistant.Earlier this year at CES, Alibaba announced a partnership with Mediatek to develop its own smart mesh connectivity solution to support Bluetooth mesh networking. While that announcement was focused on connectivity, Alibaba had already been working with the fabless semiconductor company for its voice assistant, using Mediatek’s MT8516 application processor for audio and microphone processing. The MT8516 integrates a quad-core, 64-bit Arm Cortex-A35 MPCore operating at up to 1.3 GHz and features interfaces such as I2Sx2 (four channels), TDM (up to eight channels), and PDM inputs (two channels) for microphone voice input control and connected audio products.The automaker partnerships are with Alibaba’s A.I. Labs, its in-house research unit for developing artificial intelligence-powered consumer applications, as part of its IoT initiative. The lab is also working to integrate its AI platform into vehicle operating systems so users will be able to control Tmall Genie-compatible home appliances from their cars. Alibaba said that it would use A.I. Labs’ voiceprint technology to ensure that the devices can only execute commands when activated by the voice of authorized users.Daimler also plans to leverage geofencing technology — developed by Alibaba Cloud’s IoT division — to automatically turn on or off lighting, thermostats, and other home appliances when they drive past a designated area near their homes.Tmall Genie was launched in July 2017 and has sold over 2 million units in China to date. Cars seem to be the next frontier for this service. Market research firm Counterpoint Insights forecasts that more than 125 million connected passenger cars would be shipped between 2018 and 2022, with the market increasing 270%. The report pointed to fast-growing adoption in China as one of the key drivers.“Cars are an environment, alongside the home and the office, where individuals spend a significant amount of time, and which through connectivity can become an important part of life,” said Lijuan Chen, head of Alibaba A.I. Labs, in a press statement. “Identifying how to serve car users with our smart home assistant Tmall Genie is one of our top priorities.”
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Release time：2018-04-24 00:00 reading：2697 Continue reading>>
Nvidia Partners with Continental on Robocars
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Nvidia Partners with Continental on Robocars

　　MADISON, Wisc. — Nvidia is teaming up with German tier one automotive supplier Continental to develop “top-to-bottom AI self-driving vehicle systems" built on the Nvidia Drive platform. They are planning on a market introduction starting in 2021.　　Elmar Degenhart, Continental CEO, and Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, finalize partnership to create AI-based highly automated vehicle systems. (photo: Nvidia)　　Elmar Degenhart, Continental CEO, and Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, finalize partnership to create AI-based highly automated vehicle systems.　　For Continental, the partnership with Nvidia is neither the first nor an exclusive deal in the automated vehicle platform segment.  The company last June made a similar announcement with the BMW/Intel/Mobileye group, Nvidia’s rival, as a member of their self-driving platform alliance.　　In contrast, for Nvidia, “This is one of the first end-to-end production (using all Nvidia stacks) partnerships it made with a tier one,” Danny Kim, director and senior advisor at VSI Labs, told EE Times.　　While Kim doesn’t think Continental is locked in with Nvidia, he believes the German company is “betting a lot on Nvidia platforms by investing its resources.”　　In the announcement, the two companies explained, “Dedicated engineering teams from each company will work together to develop self-driving solutions.” The solution will be based on the Nvidia Drive platform — which includes Nvidia Xavier SoC and Nvidia’s DRIVE operating system and DRIVE Autonomous Vehicle software stacks. The partnership will enable the production of AI computer systems that scale from automated Level 2 features through full Level 5 self-driving capabilities, with vehicles without steering wheel or pedals, they said.　　Continental’s partnership with Nvidia was widely expected. Last month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, when EE Times met with Kurt Lehmann, Continental’s corporate technology officer, he casually mentioned, “We do work with Nvidia.” He told us, “We are exploring with everyone to investigate every corner” of the autonomous vehicle technology landscape. With every car OEM following different approaches to automated vehicles, it’s a tier one’s responsibility to “be flexible” and figure out “things that must fit together from top to down,” Lehmann said.　　Lehmann cited Xilinx as another chip vendor Continental with whom is working.　　Multiple paths Continental is pursuing to develop production of a system include: “1) all Nvidia AV stacks, 2) all Intel/Mobileye stacks, and/or 3) combination of different stacks from different module suppliers, depending on their customer’s needs,” explained Kim.　　The power of Tier Ones　　The Continental/Nvidia announcement, if anything, demonstrates the growing need for chip vendors to work with tier ones.　　After all, “Tier ones are critical ecosystem players who can serve OEMs best in their customization needs,” Kim said. “The [Nvidia-Conti] announcement is significant not because it’s yet another partnership announcement from a AV development ecosystem quarterback, Nvidia, but because it again proves that such a close relationship is necessary between chipset maker and tier one to develop a solid AV system.”　　While Google's Waymo, General Motors and Uber vertically integrate customized AV stacks for their AV systems, other players are increasingly adopting modular approaches (AV stacks have multiple modules such as mapping, perception, object detection, path planning modules), with different suppliers bringing their own modules to build AV systems, Kim observed. “Tier ones’ biggest mission is to make these modules work and integrate them in a system,” Kim said.　　In explaining what looks like everyone partnering with everybody, Kim said, “It’s because the industry is still at the early stage of AV system development. Versatile tier ones may support all different SoC platforms even after their first production system.”　　Many tier ones, however, may specialize in select platforms, or more focused on developing interfaces between different modules, he added. “Probably traditional OEM-Tier One relationship (one OEM sourcing only one semi-owned tier one’s system) like Toyota-Denso or Hyundai-Mobis may not be competitive any more, and more versatile and flexible tier ones would survive” in the future.
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Release time：2018-02-06 00:00 reading：1581 Continue reading>>
Elektrobit Targets ECU Overload in <span style='color:red'>Cars</span>
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Elektrobit Targets ECU Overload in Cars

　　While the automotive industry today faces many challenges, two stand out: Do automakers have a way to deal with the proliferation of codes, software and data? Can conventional ECUs — presumably hundreds already packed into a single vehicle — handle this digital mob scene?　　The short answers are no, and no.　　On one hand, carmakers are now tasked to enable a host of new features — including connectivity, over-the-air updates, sensory data and autonomy — never before offered in vehicles.  On the other hand, traditional ECUs were primarily designed to perform a specific, static, real-time function. Making ECUs future-proof wasn’t really on Detroit’s mind in the past.　　This is where Autosar (AUTOmotive Open System Architecture)’s emerging standard, “Adaptive Automotive Platform,” comes in. Autosar, a global consortium of carmakers, tier ones and tech suppliers, has been working on a new standard for a new vehicle architecture. Its goal is to offer more flexible options for ECU architecture, to establish a foundation for more compute-intensive tasks with large amounts of data.　　Phil Magney, founder and principal advisor for Vision Systems Intelligence (VSI), described Adaptive Autosar as “representing a new architecture that will be necessary to support the software-defined functionality of new vehicles.” He noted, “To function properly, [such] highly automated vehicles require number-crunching algorithms that will rely on ‘services’ and ‘data’ while at the same time retain the proven dependability of classic Autosar components.”　　Evolution of the Electrical/Electronic architecture inside vehicles　　First commercial implementation　　The final spec for Autosar’s Adaptive Automotive Platform isn’t expected until early 2018. However, Elektrobit, an Erlangen, Germany-based supplier of embedded and connected software for the auto industry, has jumped the gun. On Wednesday (Oct. 18), Elektrobit announced a new software product line, called EB Corbos, that adheres to Autosar’s emerging Adaptive Automotive Platform.　　Walter Sullivan, head of innovation at Elektrobit, told EE Times, “What’s been missing in the automotive industry is the standard programming environment.” Designers could make automotive applications to run on hardware processing-limited ECUs, but had not made a platform on which software could be reused, with safety and liability enforcement.　　Magney explained the difference with Adaptive Automotive Platform: Unlike the existing Autosar spec (called Classic Autosar Platform), “the configuration is no longer static at compile time. Configuration is done at runtime.  The new model clearly supports a contemporary client–server architecture where tasks and processes are distributed among multiple clients. Furthermore, C++ is the main programming language for Adaptive Autosar applications, another sign that automotive is moving in the right direction.”　　Sullivan claimed, “Elektrobit is the first to offer commercially available software implementations of Adaptive Automotive Platform standard.”　　Just to be clear, though, Elektrobit isn’t actually rolling out EB Corbos until early next year.　　What’s inside EB Corbos　　As Magney noted, Adaptive Autosar “supports the new trend toward multi-core processors and centralized domain computing architectures.”　　Elektrobit is launching three products under its EB corbos line, to support all the new trends that Adaptive Autosar targets.　　Elektrobit’s first product, called EB corbos AdaptiveCore, is the software core for Adaptive Autosar. “This is our implementation of Adaptive Automotive Platform,” said Sullivan.　　Second, EB corbos Hypervisor is an automotive-grade hypervisor, that allows “virtual segmentation” of the CPU, said Sullivan. The technology allows a certain application to run on a dedicated core, or run different applications on multiple cores of the same CPU. Hypervisor is critical to ensure the highest levels of safety and security, when automakers transition to a more centralized higher computing model, he said.　　Magney added that chip companies with multi-core processors have been pushing Hypervisor for a while. As Adaptive Autosar supports these heterogeneous architectures brought to the market by the chip companies, so does Elektrobit.　　While chips with more computing power start to emerge, Magney said, the auto industry needs software’s facility “to support virtualization, dynamic codes changes, safety containers and more.”　　The third corbos product is EB corbos Linux, an automotive-grade POSIX-compliant operating system designed for high-performance controllers, based on the Linux-Kernel that can be used in safety-critical systems. This represents Elektrobit’s first Linux distribution, according to Sullivan.　　Sullivan noted that all three new corbos products are “meant to work together.” They are highly integrated, he noted, so that EB corbos Linux, for example, works integrally with EB corbos Hypervisor, thus reducing the boot time.　　In addition to corbos having a hypervisor extension and a Lynux extension, Magney explained, “These additional runtime components will be necessary to build out a system on Adaptive Autosar. If not Linux, corbos will support and POSIX compatible OS so developers still have a choice.”　　100 ECUs to five to 10 ECUs?　　In the press release, Elektrobit stated, “To enable highly automated and connected driving, automakers are consolidating up to 100 single ECUs into a centralized functional architecture with just five to 10 embedded performance controllers at its core.”　　Asked if such a consolidation seems an overly aggressive move, Sullivan said, “Yes. But that’s what OEMs are telling us.”　　Sullivan suspects the transition will happen “in phases.” It could take two to three generations. But he added that automotive newcomers will likely be quicker and a lot more aggressive in embracing such new vehicle architectures in their EV models.　　Adaptive Autosar for high-performance in-car computers　　Competitive landscape　　Sullivan noted that other software companies, such as Vector and Mentor, are well versed in Autosar’s development. However, he suspected that “most of the others do not have integrated product sweep like we do.” Elektrobit has a full stack of software. It has built its reputation over 30 years in the automotive industry, he added.　　Asked about the competitive landscape, Magney noted, in addition to Vector and Mentor, “There are some other names that offer Autosar software components, code generators, or compilers such as eSOL, dSPACE, KPIT, ETAS, Green Hills, Dassault Systemes, and IAR Systems. I suspect these companies are working on their Adaptive AUTOSAR solutions as well.”　　Elektrobit was acquired two years ago by Continental AG, a leading tier one company based in Germany.　　Might Elektrobit’s subsidiary status limit its appeal to Continental’s clients?　　Sullivan doesn’t believe so. “EB corbos is available to any tier one and OEM; there is no exclusivity or relationship to Continental’s products. This is intentional and actually how Continental has committed to run Elektrobit,” he explained.　　He stressed that Elektrobit “operates completely independently, with its own management and customers. There are some joint projects — and Elektrobit provides teams and services in support of Continental initiatives — but Electrobit is free to pursue any and all customers.”　　Magney agreed. “I don’t think being owned by Continental will hurt Elektrobit’s ability to compete in this space. The traditional barriers in automotive are being broken down as the scramble to develop automated vehicle solutions is at an all-time high. OEMs may use multiple tier ones on a given vehicle platform.”
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Release time：2017-10-19 00:00 reading：2739 Continue reading>>
Too Many <span style='color:red'>Cars</span>, Too Few Resistors
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Too Many Cars, Too Few Resistors

　　Every time you're stuck in vehicle traffic, don't you just wish there are fewer cars in front of you? We all know that cars are expensive, pollute the air, and eventually end up in junkyards besides frustrating us with traffic. Now there's another problem being caused by cars: a shortage of resistors.　　Resistors? That's right. According EE Times' sister publication EBN, the increasing amount of electronics in cars has produced a "supply imbalance" of SMT resistors, as least in North America. It started with longer lead times for thick-film resistors, but it's spreading to thin-film components as well. According to the report, through-hole resistors are not affected. That's hardly a surprise. After all, how many designs use through-hole resistors anymore?　　As the graph shows, the average lead time for resistors rose significantly starting in February 2017 and continued through July, the latest data that's available. As more electronics goes into cars, especially with driver assist and eventually autonomous vehicles, we could see more shortages, and not just for resistors. We often take resistors for granted, until we don’t have them.
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Release time：2017-09-20 00:00 reading：1355 Continue reading>>
Autonomous <span style='color:red'>Cars</span> Tackle Antenna Glut
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Autonomous Cars Tackle Antenna Glut

　　How many antennas does it take to screw autonomy into a car?　　This is no joke. In the emerging era of highly automated vehicles, as many as 18 antennas are needed to power the next-generation connected car, according to Taoglas, a leading antenna vendor headquartered in Ireland. That, of course, assumes that self-driving cars will need access to 5G connectivity.　　Even without 5G, carmakers currently designing connected cars are demanding solutions that include everything from multiple cellular antennas for network connectivity, Wi-Fi for hotspot connectivity and GNSS for navigation to emergency call systems and other location-based technologies, satellite radio, AM/FM, radar for object detection, Bluetooth for smartphones and other devices, and dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) antennas for vehicle-to-vehicle/infrastructure applications.　　In response, Taglas launched Wednesday (June 7) a reference design, called Axiom, for a low-profile, compact multiple (nine) antenna solution.　　Taglas, founded in 2007, is an antenna specialist for the industrial market. It generates 50 percent of its business from transportation, including trucks, buses and cars.　　More antennas needed　　Asked what changed — in OEM connectivity demand — Dermot O’Shea, co-CEO of Taoglas, told us that the number of antennas has grown exponentially. Carmakers keep adding, rather than trying to trim back. Some users now don’t need an AM/FM antenna because they use Internet radio via on-board WIFI or have a subscription to satellite radio. But carmakers are constitutionally loath to eliminate a “feature.”　　As a result, antenna vendors face substantial challenges. They must keep their packages small, make antenna modules easier to assemble (“no manual assembly should be required,” said O’Shea) and sell cheap. Above all, antenna arrays demand “really high performance,” O’Shea said, with OEMs expecting all antennas to work all the time, although jammed into a small package in close proximity.　　Smartphone users accustomed to all connectivity at their fingertips would get upset if their GPS-embedded car went silent in underground parking. “Never mind that your car can’t see a GPS satellite. When that happens, they blame carmakers, not the antenna supplier,” said O’Shea.　　Luca De Ambroggi, a principal analyst for automotive electronics at IHS Markit, agreed. “Since five years ago, the role of connectivity has been changing abruptly, because more embedded solutions and technologies are required in the car," he said. "They are no longer based on smartphone anymore but they’ve become part of the in-vehicle embedded electronics.”　　He noted that the attach rate in cars is expected to develop further. “They are not just in premium vehicles but also in middle economy segments,” he said.
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Release time：2017-06-08 00:00 reading：1135 Continue reading>>

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