Automotive electronic systems are becoming increasingly complex. At the same time, new interfaces and protocols are being introduced. Computer processors control many functions in the car, from anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and fuel injection units to cutting-edge entertainment systems.
The Altera® Cyclone® FPGA and SoC FPGA families, as well as a suite of complementary solutions, provide an unparalleled flexibility to mix-and-match functionality with pricing that is competitive with ASICs and ASSPs.
Car networks, as shown in Figure 1, are usually divided into body and power train control networks, and telematics and multimedia subnetworks. A central controller (known as an "auto PC" in Europe) is the core element of an automotive system. The central controller allows you to operate the different electronic systems and control units. To communicate with these electronic control units, the central controller must have access to all types of buses through the gateway controller, which acts as a router between the different electrical and optical buses in a car.
Figure 1. Next-Generation Car Network
Notes:
- DVB = digital video broadcast
- GSM = global system for mobile communication
- UMTS = universal mobile telecommunications system
- DAB = digital audio broadcast
- DMB = digital multimedia broadcast
- GPS = global positioning system
- DSP = digital signal processing
- WLAN = wireless local area network
- UWB = ultra wideband
- CAN = controller area network
- LIN = local interconnect network
CAN and local interconnect network protocols carry the communication between the electronic control units within the body and power train systems. In the future, FlexRay or a timing-triggered CAN will be used for an advanced, high data-rate control system for combining multiple sensors and electronic control units.
With the rapid expansion of digital and wireless technology such as GSM and UMTS, end users will have access to various advanced services such as digital video, audio, and multimedia broadcasts. The telematics and multimedia subnetworks provide various telematic services, including wireless links to portable devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and digital audio or video subsystems. The telematics and multimedia subsystems commonly use media oriented systems transport (MOST), FireWire (IDB 1394), and USBs to connect to the gateway.
Altera has a variety of solutions to meet next-generation car network requirements. You may choose from several flexible and low-cost Cyclone FPGA families to combine many different intellectual property (IP) core building blocks, such as CAN, MOST, or FlexRay controllers and interfaces, or video and image processing solutions. For a more intelligent solution, take advantage of Altera's Nios® II 32-bit embedded processor. No competitive soft processor comes close to matching the performance, utility, and cost-efficiency of a Nios II processor in a Cyclone FPGA. Since the Nios II processor is a soft core processor, it can be easily ported to new or future FPGAs, making it an obsolete-proof microcontroller architecture. Or you may design with our Cyclone V SoC FPGA which integrates a dual-core ARM® CortexTM-A9 MPCoreTM processor and a complete set of hard peripherals including dual CAN cores for reduced system power, system cost, and board space.
