Spansion Creates ‘Magic’ in Automotive Market with ADAS Technology

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Yosuke Nakajima

When you were a kid, there is a good chance you wished that magic was real so you’d have the ability to make charms, fly with a broom and maybe even drive while you’re sleeping. Amazingly for us, one of these is actually happening and it doesn’t even require a magic wand. Thanks to the continued development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), with the turn of a key (or push of a button), a seemingly inanimate object now has a mind of its own. Through a combination of sophisticated technology, incorporating key benefits from Flash memory, a future consisting of driverless cars is no longer out of the realm of possibility.

Analysts predict that the market for ADAS will grow at a rapid pace, to over 163 million different types of systems by 2019. Flash will play a significant role. Subaru, for example, recently introduced its EyeSightdriver assistance system available on models of the Forester and Liberty. EyeSight acts as a pair of eyes that monitors the road and recognizes potentially dangerous driving situations.

Subaru Eyesight. Source: www.theautochannel.com

Ford’s Fusion is another example of a car model which features an ADAS, boasting park assist functionality, a driver alert system and blind spot indicators.

ADAS Today

This technology relies on complex embedded systems, which in turn are reliant on memory architecture and design implementation. Designers are being challenged to create innovative solutions to control costs, while at the same time delivering critical performance capabilities and ensuring long-term product reliability. Spansion’s NOR Flash memory is the ideal solution to meet these requirements.

Out of all other non-volatile memory products, NOR Flash memory has the lowest initial latency, highest data integrity and fastest data throughput. To give you an idea of what that means for the car, let’s examine one feature in particular; the blind spot detector. The faster read speeds of NOR flash enable nearly instant-on capability for cameras and sensors to detect and alert the driver to things that would otherwise be blocked from view, including pedestrians, signs and other objects near the car.

Here’s a sample of other key features enabled by ADAS:

Collision avoidance systems that utilize sensors to detect an imminent crash.
Adaptive cruise control that adjusts throttle and brake input to maintain the driver’s desired speed and distance from any vehicles traveling up ahead.
Lane-departure warning systems, which alert drivers when they drift into another lane without using a turn signal.
Traffic sign detection, which can be used to notify and warn the driver when they approach different road signs.
Automatic parking systems that park vehicles without input from the driver.

ADAS Tomorrow

Looking at the features above, it’s clear to see that ADAS technology has come a long way. Features that we could have only dreamed about 10 years ago are quickly becoming the norm. However, with that said, the reality is that today’s smart cars are really just the beginning. In the future, cars will be connected to everything around them including smartphones & tablets, traffic signals, pavement-embedded sensors and even other cars on the road.

Imagine the convenience of knowing exactly where open meters are without having to drive around aimlessly looking for them. How about having the ability to monitor your heart rate just by touching your steering wheel? All of this is on the way and memory will continue to be the key enabler of this connected technology. Designers will rely on embedded Flash memory to ease the complexity of the car network and enable the reliable and secure data connections that promote these features.

NOR Flash Drives Ahead

While fully-autonomous driving cars aren’t legal to operate on the roads just yet, that’s truly the ultimate evolution with these technologies. Given the enormous safety and consumer experience benefits, we expect this market to continue to grow. With that, we’ll see the industry continue to rely on NOR Flash memory to extend the magic of this technology, and we look forward to answering that need.

Source: www.futurecarsnow.com

Five Trends to Watch in 2012

Posted on January 18, 2012 by John Kispert

2012 will mark a further acceleration in the use of Flash Memory as a critical computing component. Beyond the tablets, smartphones and enterprise SSDs, NAND and NOR Flash memory are growing and making an impact throughout all our lives at work, on the road, at home and at play. Here are five trends we expect to accelerate this year: Continue reading →

NVIDIA in the Driver’s Seat?

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Fely Krewell

When you think of NVIDIA, most consumers have thoughts of advanced graphics chips for PC gaming. Its GeForce line has long been heralded for its realistic 3D visuals, screaming performance and fast interactive game play. That type of innovation is what NVIDIA has been known to deliver. So what’s a graphics processing unit (GPU) doing inside the car?

The Car: The Most Advanced Consumer Electronics Device Around

It’s not that odd of pairing if you think about it. Look at all of the changes happening in automotive electronics. Behind the steering wheel, the mechanical gauges are being replaced with digital screens. The center console is no longer the series of nobs and switches to control a CD player, stereo and air conditioning, but rather a large touchscreen display that lets you manage many of the car’s systems.

These new displays are also becoming a key safety element of the vehicle. Information is being collected throughout the automobile and from external conditions and fed to the driver so they are fully aware of the car’s health and potential hazards on the road. Advancements in auto electronics are enhancing the driver’s ability to navigate a vehicle while making that journey more comfortable and entertaining for the passengers.

Given these changes, it makes a total sense for NVIDIA to bring its technology to the car. These advanced displays demand instant-on performance and rich 2D and 3D user interfaces. NVIDIA has been providing those features to gaming for years.

NVIDIA: A Welcomed Addition

For those that follow semiconductors, you probably already know NVIDA has been catering to profession and science markets for some time. They have been making steady inroads in automotive as well, which was very apparent at this year’s consumer electronics show (CES) in Las Vegas. NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processors are making its way into Audis, BMWs and the upcoming Model S form Tesla. Check out NVIDIA’s automotive page to read more on their automotive focus.

NVIDIA has some formidable competitors in automotive including Freescale, Infineon, Renesas and Texas Instruments. These companies have been focusing on the auto market for decades so the competition will be tough. I’ve been fortunate enough to work closely with all of these companies over the years as Spansion brings its NOR Flash memory solutions to market to support these continual advancements in automotive. It is an exciting segment and NVIDIA is a welcomed addition.

TFT Clusters Demand for High Density NOR

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Anthony Le

Today’s innovations in automobile design result from the growing demand for more electronics within the car. Cars now come with state-of-the-art audio and video systems, high-tech and graphic-rich navigation systems, and wireless technologies for many types of communications.

Safety electronics is on the cusp of making a quantum leap forward with advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs), which are involved with braking, steering, and collision avoidance. When drivers become distracted, the risk of an accident quickly increases. In 2008 alone, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 6000 Americans died due to a distracted driver and another 500,000 were injured.

2010 Range Rover gets a 12-inch wide virtual gauge cluster

Automakers are now turning their attention to accident prevention, with a focus on improving the driver’s experience. To lessen distractions, key vehicle and driving information needs to be displayed in front of the driver, specifically in the dashboard.

The instrument cluster, a space once reserved for electromechanical gauges and light indictors, is transforming into a new digital information center for drivers. Thanks to the advancement and maturing reliability of digital thin-film-transistor (TFT) displays, improved signal processing power, and high-speed digital communication, analog-based systems are rapidly migrating to digital system displays.

Today’s dashboards built around TFT displays still provide basic vehicle information, such as drive train position, speed, fuel levels, and engine status, while bringing in additional data from outside the car. This added information comes from new innovations like 360° cameras, night vision, lane-departure warning, blind-spot detection, and 3D graphic navigation data.

Digital clusters enable a more cost-effective and flexible means to converge all vehicle and safety information, which further minimizes any unnecessary distractions. The driver no longer needs to look down or fumble with the center console searching for music, make phone calls, look up driving directions, or turn one’s head to look at a blind spot.

While these new advances offer many new and exciting options, they also require designers to find innovative solutions to control costs as well as deliver critical performance capabilities and ensure long-term product reliability. Spansion’s NOR Flash is the ideal solution to meet system designer’s requirement for performance, reliability, and cost. The following article provides a nice overview.

Auto Electronics: Weighing The Tradeoffs Between Automotive Digital Clusters And Memory Architectures