Introduction of the hottest TRW innovative electro

Introduction to TRW's innovative electronic control system integration technology

overview of automotive electronics market

according to the prediction of senior experts in the industry, nearly 90% of automotive innovation in the future will come from electronic technology, of which 80% will be achieved through the upgrading of software technology. The rapid development of electronic theory and application makes many technological innovations possible. Moore's law states that electronic processing capacity and memory capacity will double every 18 months. For electronic suppliers, this means:

● the speed of R & D and updating is higher than that of other industries (for example, a new microcomputer is launched every three years)

● it is expected that the electronic system will not be affected while its size and cost are reduced

● system design is facing challenges, that is, how to deal with increasingly complex functions reliably

according to the prediction of reed electronics research, the global automotive electronics market excluding infotainment systems was $35.4 billion in 2007. In the automotive industry, the growth of electronic technology is the fastest, accounting for almost one third of the total value of a car by 2015 (see Figure 1)

electronic technology plays the role of system integrator, paving the way for the development of intelligent security system, or cognitive security system. The intelligent network between the systems on the vehicle (through can, FlexRay or other bus communication) improves the system performance and promotes the birth of new systems. ESC is an example. It was once praised by some experts as the most important vehicle safety technology since the safety belt

nowadays, environmental sensors such as radars and cameras can share sensing data with other systems on the vehicle, thereby enhancing safety functions and bringing advanced driving assistance systems (see Figure 2)

the continuous upgrading of software technology is the driving force for the development of the third electronic technology. By 2005, the software kilobytes of each car showed a steady upward trend (see Figure 3). In the foreseeable future, the application of electronic technology in chassis and driving assistance system will continue to grow. Suppliers that provide high-quality electronic components and systems and can increase product value through integration in terms of performance and cost will be the first choice for vehicle manufacturers

process of system integration

system integration is not a small challenge. In order to run many on-board systems, cars are often equipped with more than 80 independent electronic control units (ECUs). Reducing the number of ECUs for manufacturers means that the system reduces complexity, reduces components, simplifies wiring harnesses, reduces weight, and reduces costs. In this field, Toyota's actions have been closely watched, because the company proposed that by 2020, the number of ECUs will be reduced from more than 80 to 4 by redesigning vehicles. These four super ECUs will operate the powertrain, safety/chassis system, body/comfort system and instrument/infotainment system (see Figure 4)

to realize the four super ECUs, a series of steps are needed to realize system integration:

Step 1: connect the ECU through can or fiexray network

step 2: install all ECUs into one box, for example, integrate the gyroscope sensor (yaw rate sensor) into the ABS (anti lock braking system) controller

step 3: integrate silicon (i.e. integrated circuit or IC)

Figure 6 shows the overall plan of TRW from multiple control units to four main ECUs through various steps. This example focuses on the integration of active and passive safety systems, supported by multiple sensors. Through cooperative work, the active safety system helps the driver and the vehicle avoid collision, while the passive safety system automatically counts the results when a collision occurs; Automatically record the force value or elongation of the maximum point, breaking point and specified point; The dynamic display of experimental process and experimental curve by computer provides protection for drivers and passengers. It is expected to launch a single safety domain ECU in 2020

the current debate mainly focuses on the integration of software. Many technologies mentioned in Figure 6 also show how hardware, such as sensors, are integrated into multi-sensor groups or included in ECU packages. One example is that the ESC yaw rate sensor of TRW has been integrated into the TRW airbag control unit, and this integrated product has been applied in the market

role transformation: from a simple supplier to an intelligent partner

in order to fully realize the system integration of secure electronics, developers and suppliers must make a difference in the following three main areas: sensing, control, and execution

sensing

the progress of sensing technology has opened up a Xintiandi for the development of automotive safety. Many milestone safety systems, such as ESC, have greatly strengthened the control of vehicles through the use of inertia sensing technologies such as yaw rate and steering angle. Nowadays, inertia sensing has added other dimensions to the existing data input. For example, wheel speed data is obtained through ABS and traction control system sensors on the vehicle

by adding the data collected by the radar and vision system, the environmental sensing technology forms a more comprehensive data report on the surrounding conditions of the vehicle (front, rear and side), making it possible to provide driving assistance in a variety of ways

the radar sensor provides acquisition and measurement in a long and wide area under various weather and road conditions. The camera based vision system is used to monitor the road conditions in front and behind the vehicle, which is a supplement to the radar detection system. The data obtained by the vision monitoring system will be fused with the data of the radar system to confirm the accuracy of the previously obtained road condition pictures. In TRW system, these data will be collected and cross checked every 30 ~ 40ms, which is also called "data fusion"

an example of data fusion system is automatic emergency braking (AEB). The AEB system starts only when the system detects that a collision event may occur. The system can be used to reduce the severity of collision and help protect drivers and passengers. If the system completely deprives the driver of control over the vehicle, the design is difficult. Taking AEB as an example, can the designer be 100% sure that it is correct to automatically apply all the braking force ignoring the driver's control? The front road condition detection data from the radar and camera can help the braking system make better judgments and improve the accuracy

sensing systems are becoming more and more complex. For example, inertia sensing data can be combined with radar and camera data, and then fed back to the vehicle's can network, so as to establish a complete report on unsafe road conditions. Then, the system can intervene, warn the driver, or provide driving assistance to ensure the stability of vehicle control

control

obviously, today's vehicles are more intelligent than any previous models. This change of modern light passenger vehicles is mainly due to the technological progress of electronic components controlled by computers and shared with can networks. As mentioned above, the parallel growth of electronic control system has led to a rapid increase in the number of on-board ECUs, and the next generation of on-board communication network FlexRay has also emerged. Compared with previous communication networks, FlexRay is faster and more flexible

in addition to complexity and cost, other factors to be considered in the product design process include: system layout, weight, and increased energy consumption. Reducing the ECU module helps to reduce the pressure of the overloaded 12V voltage system. It is an effective way to reduce weight and reduce fuel consumption by using ECU more to reduce or even cancel some harnesses on the vehicle. At the same time, the challenge of engineering design is to make more efficient use of the control system through the binding of hardware, software and data network, so as to ensure that the advanced integrated safety system becomes possible

as cars will use fewer and fewer modules to control more and more functions, vehicle manufacturers are bound to pay more attention to safety and design reliability. The challenges faced by component suppliers include thermal management, chip integration, development of high reliability substrates, and attention to the internal and external environmental conditions of vehicles. Integrating various functions into a compact ECU shell requires advanced semiconductor packaging technology, including system level chip design with a higher level of electronic integration. As part of the ECU is arranged close to the heating area of the vehicle, it is extremely important to develop electronic components that can adapt to environmental changes and have stable performance

actuator

in the field of actuator, the development trend is to use more electronic control technology and add motors to components. TRW has successfully applied this concept to its active safety system electronic parking brake

future trend of electronic architecture

trw's concept is to develop an extensible and flexible electronic architecture based on AUTOSAR to realize the centralization of electronic components. AUTOSAR architecture is based on the concept of software standardization, so the system can run successfully on different hardware. To avoid damaging the experimental machine, a popular metaphor is that an ordinary personal desktop computer (hardware) can install programs (software) from different companies. Similarly, an automobile ECU (hardware) can be loaded with the vehicle manufacturer's own programs or software from other sources. For example, the traffic signal monitoring software developed by a third party organization can be installed into the ECU of TRW

scalability is very important for developing countries and emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (collectively known as BRIC, "BRIC"). For example, a basic ECU can be developed for the BRIC market, but this ECU must be upgraded to the high-end market for export. Flexibility refers to the ability of ECU to work in different environments, different systems and different components. For example, this ECU may be used in the braking system, so it must be able to adapt to the road dust and the thermal environment of the engine; Another ECU may be used for the steering system and installed on the other side of the car firewall

trw is also developing new systems, and engineers are considering manufacturing, quality and customer satisfaction. The ideal result is that the product can achieve 80% Standardization (so that it can be copied in any TRW factory in the world with reliable design) and 20% localization (to meet the special design requirements of individual customers)

there is no doubt that the application of automotive electronic products will grow day by day. What follows is the need for higher standardization and integration to improve reliability and reduce complexity. (end)