Certifications and Collabs: Chipmakers Advance the Automotive Market
Two major trends are driving the demand for semiconductors in modern vehicles. First, EVs demand high-efficiency, high-performance power devices that can withstand the demands of the automotive environment. Second, the increased digitization of vehicles, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and infotainment systems, relies on computation from high-performance MCUs and SoCs.
Infineon and MediaTek are teaming up on a new digital cockpit solution. Image (modified) used courtesy of Infineon
To support these trends, chipmakers are continually rolling out new board-level devices—with recent news coming from NXP, Infineon, MediaTek, and Onsemi. In this piece, we’ll review how these companies have certified technology and collaborated to bring digital car keys, digital cockpits, and traction inverters closer to market.
NXP Nabs CCC Certification for Automotive NFC
Recently, NXP Semiconductor announced that its SN220 chip, which combines NFC and embedded secure element technology, has become the first digital car key solution to receive certification from the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC). This certification validates the chip's compliance with CCC specifications for digital car keys and is a stamp of approval for customers requiring interoperability, security, and safety across the digital car key ecosystem.
SN220 block diagram. Image used courtesy of NXP Semiconductors
The SN220 series is a secure element and NFC controller integrated into a single chip, including a high-frequency clocked Arm SC300 processor, cryptographic hardware coprocessors, and a comprehensive suite of security features. The Arm SC300 processor, a security-enhanced variant of the Arm Cortex M3, supports the Arm v7-M architecture with a subset of the thumb instruction set and includes the SC300 core and the nested vector interrupt controller (NVIC). The cryptographic hardware includes a public-key cryptography (PKC) coprocessor for large integer arithmetic operations as well as asymmetric-key cryptography and symmetric-key cryptography coprocessors for AES and DES encryption and decryption.
This product's on-chip memory includes 2 MB of Flash memory and 80 KB of system RAM, complemented by 5 KB of PKC RAM. The chip also supports connectivity through interfaces like SPI, I2C, an ISO/IEC 7816-compliant interface, and GPIO.
Infineon and MediaTek Team Up for Digital Cockpits
Infineon recently announced that it will team up with MediaTek to design a digital cockpit solution for modern automobiles.
Historically, digital cockpits have been implemented using a high-end SoC with a supervisor. While this can be an effective solution, it can also be expensive to develop for lower-end car models. Infineon and MediaTek are approaching the digital cockpit with entry-level SoCs and MCUs.
Block diagram of the CYT4DN. Image used courtesy of Infineon
The new digital cockpit solution is built around Infineon's Traveo CYT4DN MCU family (datasheet linked) alongside the MediaTek Dimensity Auto SoC. The CYT4DN is built around two 320-MHz Arm Cortex-M7 CPUs for primary processing and an additional Arm Cortex M0+ CPU for peripheral and security processing. With dedicated graphics and sound processing subsystems, a built-in crypto engine, and ASIL-B functional safety, the CYT4DN serves as the “safety companion” in the digital cockpit solution.
The companies claim their collaborative efforts provide a cost-effective, entry-level solution for the digital cockpit. With lower-end but highly functional SoC and MCU offerings, they hope to reduce the BOM and software development costs associated with digital cockpits.
Onsemi Provides Power Solutions to Volkswagen
Finally, Onsemi recently signed a multi-year deal to supply power solutions to Volkswagen Group for future EVs.
EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs. Image used courtesy of Onsemi
Onsemi will be Volkswagen's primary supplier of complete power box solutions for the automotive OEM's inverter design. Onsemi provides an expansive silicon carbide (SiC) power portfolio along with an established supply chain in Europe. The power box solution will be based around Onsemi’s EliteSiC M3e MOSFETs, which have been designed specifically to meet the needs of EV applications such as traction inverters, DC-DC converters, and off-board chargers.
The power box solution will include three integrated half-bridge modules located on a dedicated cooling channel, which will deliver better efficiency and thermal management than conventional silicon-based solutions. The power box will also be scalable to fit the needs of traction inverters ranging from high power to low power.
Semiconductors and Automotive: Two Symbiotic Industries
As modern vehicles become more electrified and digitized, they are increasingly dependent on semiconductors. With new certifications for NXP’s NFC chips, digital cockpit solutions from Infineon and MediaTek, and a partnership between Onsemi and Volkswagen, the synergy between these two fields seems to be a fundamental driver of both industries' futures.
