Chip Stories
Chip Stories
Infineon's Chip Stories provide insights into applications in which Infineon components are used. Find out about interesting application examples on the mobility topics of passenger cars, micromobility, public transport, freight transport, charging infrastructure and mobility as a service.
Passenger car
Shaping the clean, safe and smart passenger car
Passenger Car: Space-saving "skateboard platform"
Space-saving "skateboard platform" from Israel may become a game changer for e-car designs
Vehicles tailored to customer needs!
Israeli e-mobility startup Ree Automotive, headquartered in Tel Aviv, surprised the 2021 electric car market with an outright innovation.
The company developed a space-saving architecture for electric cars that is designed to give car designers more freedom to layout the vehicle's interior. The concept is based on the idea of housing all the components needed for motion, such as steering, brakes and the electric motor, in the wheel and wheel housing.
The completely flat platform is reminiscent of a skateboard in terms of shape and is made possible primarily by the integration of Infineon AURIX™ microcontrollers in REEcorner™ and REEcenter™ control units.
Passenger Car: Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)
Radar for more safety: Autonomous Emergency Braking
Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) is probably one of the most important developments in car safety since the seat belt.
This safety technology reduces the risk of a rear-end or turn collision. Here's how it works: Radars in the car monitor the road ahead and signal the driver when they detect a critical situation. The vehicle is designed to brake automatically in case the driver remains inactive and fails to respond to a collision threat. Although the driver still has to be attentive and always drive carefully, the system works like an extra pair of eyes on the road supporting the safety of the driver during the entire journey.
Passenger Car: XENSIV™ 60 GHz radar sensor ICs
In summer rising temperatures can quickly reach 70° C inside parked vehicles, which can be dangerous for animals and children in the car.
Equipped with the XENSIV™ 60 GHz automotive radar sensor ICs (BGT60ATR24C) from Infineon, in-cabin monitoring systems (ICMS) detect micro-movements as well as the vital signs of infants and animals left in the car and can then sound the alarm. In addition, the compact and cost-effective chipset also addresses applications such as front-end radar for gesture sensing, high-resolution frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars for distance measurement, short range sensing operations and hidden sensing applications in the radome.
Passenger Car: Multi-purpose cameras
Multi-purpose cameras enable vehicle safety features
Multi-purpose cameras play an increasingly integral role in vehicle safety features.
As their importance skyrockets, camera systems have to be optimally integrated, which is why car manufacturers need solutions designed for scalability and a high level of integration.
Infineon offers a highly integrated solution for multi-purpose camera systems that supports the next generation of safety features and functionalities. Manufacturers and designers can choose Infineon for unparalleled benefits: from ISO 26262 support and innovative supply concepts to best-in-class power consumption and even security functions.
Highlight: AURIX™ multicore architecture includes encapsulation features to support freedom from interference between multiple applications!
Passenger Car: Lane departure warning systems
Always on track with lane departure warning systems
The lane departure warning system is another smart feature to increase safety on the road. It helps drivers stay in their lane.
This is how it works: If the car seems to leave the lane in an unusual manner, the system warns the driver, for example by vibration of the steering wheel. In case the driver does not react, the system is designed to act automatically to return to the correct position in the lane. The driver can interrupt the process by nudging the wheel.
Manufacturers and automotive suppliers will find the components they need to increase the safety of personal mobility in Infineon’s broad product portfolio of top-quality semiconductor solutions dedicated to advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), manufacturers and automotive suppliers find the components needed to increase the safety of personal mobility.
Passenger Car: Automatic emergency calls
Saving lives through automatic emergency calls
Leading car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz already use eSIM security controllers for the emergency call function.
For example, the "MercedesMe connect" system from Mercedes-Benz offers many services such as accident management, breakdown and maintenance management, remote vehicle diagnostics, and remote services for customers along with the emergency call function ("Mercedes-Benz eCall") required by law. The voice and data connections in these telematics services rely on a telematics control unit in the vehicle, which is also referred to as a connectivity module.
The current generation of this module is based on a telecommunications module that can tap into 2G to 5G mobile-communications networks. The vehicle can use them to establish a connection and access data (e.g., traffic updates, infotainment services) from the internet. A permanently installed eSIM chip is provided to identify the vehicle in the network.
Passenger Car: Advanced driver assistance (ADAS) and automated driving (AD)
Teaching cars to hear
Today's systems for advanced driver assistance (ADAS) and automated driving (AD) are based on cameras, radar and lidar.
These have the disadvantage of only detecting objects that are in the direct line of sight. Infineon has introduced a system with the company Reality AI giving cars a “sense of hearing”. Based on the first automotive-qualified MEMS microphones on the market from Infineon's XENSIV™ family and the AURIX™ Microcontrollers, the system can detect and locate emergency vehicles at an early stage. The system can also identify other road users – from pedestrians and cyclists to cars and trucks – and determine their location and direction of movement.
Passenger Car: Micro-LED matrix solution
The evolution of light
Imagine it’s night. The e-car is driving on a dark road. Only the headlights show the way. Suddenly, the driver sees a pedestrian approaching from the right.
The car brakes, stops, and the headlights turn into a projector displaying a crosswalk. The pedestrian can cross the road safely now.
A Japanese manufacturer and Infineon have jointly developed a high-definition micro-LED matrix solution for such applications, which can already be found in new cars. The modern headlights with matrix LED technology can project light onto a specific spot like a projector. They can partially dim the illumination in the event of oncoming traffic and can project information onto the road for road users, such as a crosswalk. The car thus communicates with its surroundings and with other road users. This makes the driver feel considerably safer.
Additional benefits:
The new light system helps the driver to navigate through a construction site or to give signals to pedestrians who often cannot see gestures from within a car due to reflections on the windscreen. It can be also used to warn the driver of hazards by highlighting people or objects on the roadside. Moreover, sensors in the vehicle can analyze the vehicle surroundings in order to smartly illuminate oncoming traffic. This allows the driver to see these vehicles more clearly. As oncoming road users are not dazzled, the adaptive headlights no longer have to be dimmed on country roads.
Passenger Car: Self-driving cars
Self-driving cars deliver food in USA
For many people, shopping at the supermarket is not exactly a favorite activity. Online grocery stores are therefore a convenient solution for many: no driving to the store, no time-consuming searching and no standing in line at the checkout. That’s why automated systems that handle delivery are becoming increasingly important to grocery companies.
Some of them are already working successfully on this: A robotics start-up launched an unmanned autonomous delivery service in the Arizona, USA, together with a supermarket chain. Here is how it works: Customers can order at the supermarket via a smartphone app and expect same-day delivery. This app also shows the customer the exact location of the robotic vehicle at any time. In addition, the customer receives a code to be able to open the vehicle's doors upon arrival.
The vehicle, which travels at a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour, is equipped with Lidar, radar, ultrasound, audio sensors and twelve cameras. It is manufactured in the US and is completely electric.
Such kind of technical equipment, which makes autonomous driving possible in the first place, would not work without semiconductor solutions.
Passenger Car: Delivery robots
Delivery robots gaining ground in Asia
Specialized companies, many of them in Asia, are leading the way, pioneering safety standards and eventually mass production. The main reason for the significant increase in the development of delivery robots is consumer desire for quick deliveries.
Depending on the area of application, there are different robot types. For example, delivery robots, which are comparatively slow, unmanned or transporting food or other items. They are perfect for last-mile delivery. They also feature good battery life, store and transmit service information to users and use precise sensors to perform particularly demanding tasks.
Infineon provides all the electronics for these types of service robots and enables robot developers to overcome technical challenges with the help of the next generation of semiconductor technologies.
Highlights from Infineon’s portfolio include MCU, radar sensors, ICs, OPTIGATM Trust, OptiMOSTM, MOSFETs, gate driver ICs and DC/DC controllers.
Passenger Car: SEMPER™ Secure NOR Flash
Drivers on the road rely on connected vehicles that use safe and secured NOR Flash technology.
NOR Flash helps prevent accidents while securing critical data and user privacy, preventing component counterfeiting and securing infrastructure. To achieve this, embedded system designers have to establish protection levels that are compliant with the latest security standards. They have to protect device integrity and access and manage the confidentiality, authenticity and availability of code and data.
The advanced, secured and easy-to-use SEMPER™ Secure NOR Flash portfolio from Infineon delivers security, safety and reliability to connected vehicles. The portfolio is built on the well-established SEMPER™ NOR Flash family, combines advanced security with industry-leading functional safety and reliability and is engineered to last a lifetime.