Automotive
The overall microcontroller content per vehicle is increasing, on average reaching 50 Electronic Control Units (ECU)-replacing mechanical systems with more reliable, fault-tolerant semiconductor based systems. Body, chassis, safety, power train and infotainment make up the major functional applications within a vehicle.
Each has its own particular function requiring specific, often diverse, features to implement the solution. However, OEMs are mandating a reduction in system cost and complexity requiring developers to address this by utilizing a common architecture-enabling re-use of software which at the same time provides the performance and technology required. An additional challenge facing developers is the need to meet more stringent criteria of zero-defect, increased real-time performance, high levels of safety, increasing types of connectivity (CAN, Flexray) and compliance to industry standards such as AutoSar.
MIPS® Solutions
Having a standard, proven architecture with compatible software processor cores and development tools, MIPS Technologies is able to address the trends in key automotive application areas.
Body: Convenience systems and distributed sensors
MIPS32® M4K® cores deliver an efficient, low-footprint microarchitecture with high code density and low power with scalable high performance required to achieve an optimized real-time, cost sensitive solution.
Chassis: Typical applications include steering and suspension control
The MIPS32® 24K® family provides the real-time operation, efficient memory architecture and DSP acceleration needed to meet the high performance and QoS required for these applications.
Safety: Ranging from Airbag and ABS braking to advanced collision avoidance systems.
The 24K and MIPS32® 34K® families of products include support for safety critical applications by providing fault-tolerant, redundant multiprocessing capability and built-in self test features.
Powertrain: Engine management and transmission control.
Key requirements include high performance, highly scalable operation having the capability to process data in real-time from many sources. The MIPS32® 24KEfTM core provides best-in class performance and data processing capability, including an IEEE 754 single/double precision floating point unit.
Infotainment: Multimedia convergence and centralized cockpit control.
The coherent multi-processor MIPS32® 1004KTM core forms the basis of a scalable platform with the high performance, reliable concurrent operation required in increasingly complex multimedia applications.
