Applications

Body and Comfort Electronics

Body and comfort modules are no longer stand-alone systems. Solutions from FME enable the modern vehicle’s comfort and body electronics to communicate not only with each other, but also with higherlevel systems. Adaptive headlights are a prime example: to adapt in the correct manner they need to communicate with steering-wheel angle sensors, and to know the vehicle’s speed.

Fujitsu technology used on modern networked body/comfort systems ranges from 8-bit LIN slave MCUs, through 16-bit body controllers with up to three CAN or LIN channels, up to 32-bit controllers and gateways featuring 6 CAN-bus channels and many channels of LIN. FlexRay solutions are being developed to meet future needs.

Door modules typically use a single CAN microcontroller networked with the central body controller of the vehicle. Communication within the doors uses LIN to connect the module controller with switches, mirror, locking, power windows and door lights.

Similarly, HVAC modules use LIN internally to connect flap actuators and temperature sensors via Fujitsu LIN microcontrollers.

Fujitsu fingerprint sensor systems can be used for personalisation, allowing each driver to restore their seat & mirror positions, suspension & gear settings, infotainment, etc., each time they identify themselves as ‘the driver’.

Body control gateways incorporating Fujitsu MCUs and fingerprint sensor systems will be connected by FlexRay communications interfaces to the vehicle backbone, providing the additional benefits of fast diagnostics and automatic software updates for all microcontrollers throughout the network.

Chassis and Safety

Fujitsu electronic systems address three key areas of vehicle chassis dynamics: braking systems, steering control and suspension. They contribute to innovations such as electronic stability control (ESC) and the Electronic Stability Program (ESP). By improving upon established technologies such as anti-lock braking and traction control, they ensure safe driving conditions by correcting over-steer and reducing engine torque where required: even taking control themselves when conditions are critical.

ESP systems utilising Fujitsu solutions compare driver inputs from the steering wheel with feedback from sensors in the wheel hub and underside of the vehicle. Steering wheel angles measure the driver input, while accelerometers measure the vehicle response. Also, by connecting the ESP controller to the power train ECU, the element of traction control can be implemented. FME not only manufactures microcontrollers for main chassis control and sensor subsystems, but also offers a range of accelerometers for use in these safety-critical systems.

The Fujitsu 8, 16 and 32-bit microcontroller families embody a range of peripherals such as PWM inputs and on-chip analogue-digital converters, together with automotive interfaces for communicating with CAN and LIN in-vehicle networks. Next-generation devices for FlexRay and other high-performance applications are under development.

Traction control is simplified by linking the ESP microcontroller to powertrain ECUs.

Infotainment

In-vehicle information and entertainment systems are one of the fastest-growing areas of automotive electronics driven not only by consumer demand but also by national and international initiatives such as the Intelligent Transportation System.

Whether for rear-seat entertainment or driver information, Fujitsu systems are playing a pivotal role. Our solutions build on substantial experience not only in conventional automotive microcontrollers and networking but right across the spectrum of mobile communications, multimedia and graphic display technologies.

Harnessing these capabilities, Fujitsu has created the core of some of the most sophisticated and comprehensive in-car multimedia systems on the market, including MPEG transmission over MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) with the goal of exploiting MOST technology not only for audio and control but also for video transmission. Rear-seat entertainment systems for the OEM and after-market sectors, feature a MOST network for distributing multimedia content, enabling multiple screens to be provided in the car.

Navigation

Today’s car navigation systems do much more than tell you where you are and how to get to your destination. Increasingly, they work alongside other information systems, for example recalculating routes dynamically when there is a traffic jam ahead, or integrating with mobile communications and digital broadcasting.

This demands first-class technology at the front-end: such as high-sensitivity accelerometers.

Navigation systems also demand graphics solutions for all price-performance levels, each specifically designed with the features needed by navigation system screens.

Fujitsu graphics controllers have numerous functions, which represent the state-of-the-art in graphic solutions today, and have been specially optimised for the area of embedded systems. This means that, in addition to video input and many 2D and 3D rendering functions, there is a flexible layer concept, support for screen resolution of up to XGA (1024 x 768) and further features that are of particular interest in the area of navigation, such as alpha-blending and anti-aliasing.

All models have a CPU interface to enable direct connection of embedded CPUs and microcontrollers. Whether for navigation-only systems or total infotainment networks, timeto- market is dramatically improved thanks to Fujitsu’s comprehensive set of development tools, starter kits, third-party evaluation boards and complete reference platforms backed by software drivers.

Driver Information

Fujitsu’s microcontrollers, graphics solutions and multimedia devices are helping automotive instrumentation systems deliver the right information more ergonomically than ever before.

Single-chip MCUs with stepper motor and LCD drivers can drive a complete standard cluster with two to four instruments, whilst our higherperformance controller chipsets enable today’s mid- and high-range clusters: dashboards with six or more instruments, dot-matrix displays or even full-colour graphics.

Beyond the cluster itself, FME offers solutions for head-up displays, capable of providing a huge range of information options. CAN-busenabled MCUs integrate the instrument cluster with other vehicle networks, allowing information to be gathered from anywhere in the car. And with CAN microcontrollers on the dashboard, sensors, etc., can be directly connected to the cluster where required. Results are available to controllers throughout the vehicle.

To fulfil such requirements, the Fujitsu instrumentation microcontroller family ranges from eight-bit MCUs, through 16-bit dashboard controllers with three CAN or LIN channels, up to 32-bit controllers and gateways featuring 6 CAN-bus channels and many channels of LIN. In fact, it’s the largest range of CAN-bus MCUs on the market today. And FlexRay solutions are being developed for the complexities of future driver information needs.

In-car Networks

From highly complicated point-to-point wiring looms, in-car interconnection is evolving through a sequence of increasingly complex networking standards. Fujitsu automotive solutions provide a range of options scaled to meet today’s variety of application requirements – and tomorrow’s. From cost-reduced master-slave communications with local interconnect network (LIN), through well-established CAN-bus systems, to safety-critical and high-speed control networks using FlexRay, Fujitsu microcontrollers are leading the way. And FME is meeting consumer-led demand for in-vehicle entertainment with solutions for the leading multimedia network contenders: MOST and IDB1394.

With 20kbit bandwidth and a masterslave topology, Fujitsu LIN microcontrollers provide the ideal solution for replacing CAN-bus in low-speed cost-reduced designs and in applications such as seat & mirror control, and in roof & window systems.

Where higher bandwidth up to 1Mbit/s is required, FME offers the widest range of CAN-bus MCUs on the market – the heart of automotive systems demand the performance of 8, 16 or 32-bit CPU cores. Fujitsu is the world’s largest manufacturer of 16-bit Flash CAN microcontrollers (source: Marketing Eye, 2004).

Tomorrow’s in-car networks will be even faster (10 Mbit/s), more faulttolerant and more reliable, thanks to technologies like FlexRay. Fujitsu is designing microcontrollers with FlexRay communications to meet the needs of safety-critical designs and control systems, such as chassis/safety control units, that require short, predictable latencies and time-triggered performance. New standalone FlexRay protocol chips will bridge the gap until single-chip MCUs with embedded communications are available. Already, designers are charting the FlexRay future with FME’s FPGA-based evaluation kits, featuring a ready-to-use COMMSTACK driver for protoyping.

Multimedia networking
Fujitsu automotive networking solutions are also enhancing tomorrow’s road journeys with world-beating options in vehicle entertainment. In particular, we offer MPEG-2 decoders and encoders for applications including streaming DVDs and entertainment over MOST (Media-Oriented System Transport) using plastic optical fibre serial links. Building on our expertise with IEEE1394 (Firewire), Fujitsu is introducing solutions for the emerging IDB1394.b standard, enabling not only multimedia for entertainment, but also for real-time transmission of video camera data.