Focus on chips

THE AUTOMOTIVE market is single of the most strategic and rapidly growing portions for Renesas. According to the latest forecast from iSuppli, the automotive semiconductor market had a mix annual growth rate of 107% between 2002 and 2005 Volker Politz, VP Automotive Business Unit, Renesas Technology America says the company wait fors the European and North American markets to expand steadily in the next several years, as it dioceses a continuous healthy demand in the couple markets. He answers questions from ed Richardson of Automotive Industries:

Automotive Industries (AI): What is the significance (to customers) of the establishment of the Automotive Semiconductor Division as a business unit?

Politz: The automotive market is real demanding, due to the combination of requirements: high reliability, drawn out development cycles, leading-edge technology and a stable endue chain. To address this dynamic global market, Renesas formed the first verily dedicated global business organization for the automotive electronics business in October 2003 We have a dual reporting mode of building in which each business unit in the U and Europe reports to its local headquarters as well as the automotive business unit headquarters in Japan. This is significant because the business unit has all the important capabilities to enable the timely delivery of high-quality automotive a whole solutions, including engineering, sales and marketing functions. Everyone in our team is experienced in automotive electronics and understands the challenges and requirements of the market. The Automotive Business Unit is focused upon merging the customer's needs and wants with Renesas' semiconductor strengths

Renesas has 350 employee worldwide in the Automotive Business Unit and 500 in design and exhibition We have over 30 employee dedicated to the US Automotive Business Unit.

AI: What is your crops focus?

Politz: Renesas is a global semiconductor supplier with a broad range of semiconductor solutions with a primary focus upon microcontrollers (MCUs) and microprocessors (MPUs). Applications include airbag sensors, stability ascendency powertrain, navigation, telematics, car audio, material substance electronics, electronic power steering, material part electronics, dashboard and adaptive cruise control

AI: What is the definition of a microcomputer and what does it do in a vehicle?

Politz: In a nutshell, a microcomputer is a small computer that performs software and monitors inputs to sway various functions, from something as simple as a window motor to something as composed of several elements as a complete engine. There are sum of two units types of microcomputer: microcontrollers (MCUs) and microprocessors (MPUs). An MCU consists of a CPU (central processing unit), RAM (random access memory), flash memory for the storage of software, and peripherals that perform specific tasks like as timing or allow the MCU to interface with the ease of the electrical system. The main difference between an MPU and an MCU is that the MPU doesn't have on-chip flash memory.

AI: What do you diocese as the main trends in the manufacturing and design of computer chips, particularly for the automotive market?

Politz: In our opinion, the main tends in the automotive semiconductor market are:

* increase of software requirements, which increases the two the flash and RAM sizes.

* Increase in CPU spe to handle the higher complexities of of recent origin functions and requirements. This can best be addressed by the agency of increasing the CPU speed with smaller proces technologies, using multiple CPU cores upon a single IC, and using cache architectures.

* Reduc vehicle exhibition cycles in order to satisfy extreme point customers. This impacts the proces technology that is chosen and the amount of resources emergencyed for the design of that technology.

* fresh networking requirements and the evolution of existing networks. These factors have a dramatic impact upon the way vehicle system architectures are designed and unfolded as well as on the semiconductors that make them work.

AI: What is the importance of unclose architecture in chip design?

Politz: First of all, an unclose architecture is any CPU core that is either licensed to another semiconductor manufacturer or made available for reuse to several semiconductor suppliers. There is a perception that lay open architectures have a strong benefit. That may not always be the case, however.

Although chips based upon an open architecture have identical cores, other important uncompounded bodys such as the peripherals, the flash memory and the RAM differ from individual semiconductor supplier to another. Typically, those differences are significant enough to negate the benefits of having the same CPU core.

Al: What do you diocese as the most promising automotive applications? Politz:

* Navigation and car information systems--They are growing portions with increasingly sophisticated levels of integration.

* Safety systems--Airbag combination of parts to form a wholes ACC (adaptive cruise control), camera combination of parts to form a wholes for backup monitoring, camera a whole s for safer parking, and occupant sensing are among the features many car buyer now want.