Airbag system

Overview

With their ability to save lives and reduce injuries, airbags have become a required safety feature in today’s automobiles. But despite their vitality, there’s enormous pressure to keep airbag costs as low as possible – without jeopardizing passenger safety. What you need concretely for airbag applications: scalable, flexible solutions and a system that meets ASIL D (ISO 26262) requirements.

Infineon offers you just that. We provide flexible solutions fit for both entry-level and high-end airbag systems all of which conform to the current ISO standards. Likewise, our extensive system expertise means you can turn to us for reliable answers to all airbag-related queries. And because Infineon delivers all components from one source, you can rest assured that your airbag applications will always work dependably.

Products

System Benefits

Airbag systems are standard in most cars and are mandatory equipment in many countries, saving thousands of lives
Infineon’s broad product spectrum supports scalability and flexibility for building systems from 4 to over 20 firing loops
Full range of airbag ASSPs ranging from pressure sensors for side crash detection to driver and transceiver ICs
High-performance 32-bit AURIX™ MCU family with dedicated safety features enables the integration of multiple functions
The parts are optimized in terms of both system interoperability and the best price-performance ratio
These systems are mandatory in order to achieve the highest possible scores in the various “New Car Assessment Programs” (NCAP) throughout the world

Datalogging challenges in traditional Event Data Recorders:
- Temporary RAM buffer to hold one event data record. More data means higher internal RAM
- Event-based trigger to address endurance limit. Data is logged in non-volatile memory after the event using back-up power
- Higher back-up capacitor for larger data
Infineon Solution:
- Fast write and Instant non-volatile F-RAM memory allows continuous data logging
- Infinite endurance eliminates the need for a temporary RAM buffer
- Continuous logging means event data record is non-volatile even before the event is triggered

F-RAM for Automotive markets provides fast writes at full interface speed. F-RAM does not have any write delays and data is instantly nonvolatile. Traditional nonvolatile memories have delays of 5 or more milliseconds before data becomes nonvolatile. If power is disrupted, pending data is lost unless the system has extra capacitance or batteries to keep the system on until data is stored.

F-RAM offers virtually unlimited endurance of 100 trillion read/write cycles. Traditional nonvolatile memories typically have less than 1 million cycle endurance, forcing system designers to use complex wear-leveling routines and up to 4x more density to prolong the lifetime of these memories.