J Srikant
Freescale Semiconductor, a major electronic solution provider to auto sector, and Broadcom Corporation have partnered to create Freescale’s Qorivva MPC5606E – the industry’s first fully-integrated, packaged microcontroller (MCU) and physical layer transceiver (PHY) solution for use in 360 degree camera systems.
“Our collaboration with Broadcom resulted in a single, small-footprint solution that combines the image compression features of our Qorivva MPC5606E device with the time stamping and high performance transmission capabilities of the BroadR-Reach PHY,” said Davide Santo, Safety and Chassis Operations Manager for Freescale’s Automotive MCU Group. “By leveraging Ethernet, a proven lower-cost, automotive-qualified solution for secure transmission of in-vehicle data, the next step is to make the technology even more attractive by enabling Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) integrators to dramatically reduce the footprint of their solutions,” he added. The integrated Ethernet solution enables compact vision compression and rapid transmission of video data throughout the vehicle.
ADAS is increasingly becoming popular among consumers, driven in large part by a strong affinity for the functionality enabled by surround view cameras such as park assist and blind spot detection. According to ABI Research, Inc, the global ADAS market is forecast to reach US$261 billion by 2020, establishing ADAS as one of the fastest growing segments in the automotive sector.
Camera size is increasingly important to automotive OEMS, as manufacturers prefer peripheral cameras to be miniaturised and unobtrusive to maintain vehicle aesthetics. Smaller cameras can be more easily hidden within design features of the car, such as a front grill, bumper or wing mirror. Featuring a compact 8x8mm package, the Qorivva MPC5606E device is designed to reduce the size of automotive camera modules by up to 50 percent, while helping speed time to market and reduce the overall bill-of-material
The integrated Ethernet solution enables compact vision compression and rapid transmission of video data throughout the vehicle. Ethernet has emerged as a mainstream automotive network technology, allowing multiple in-vehicle systems to simultaneously access information over a single unshielded twisted pair cable at speeds of up to 100 Mbps. By eliminating cumbersome, shielded cabling, automotive manufacturers can reduce connectivity costs up to 80 percent and cabling weight up to 30 percent.
“Demand for our BroadR-Reach technology continues to rise as auto makers embrace the inherent advantages that Ethernet has to offer,” said Ali Abaye, Broadcom Senior Director of Automotive. “Our collaboration with Freescale will enable the development of more optimised ADAS camera solutions and drive the proliferation of advanced features in a broader range of vehicles – beyond the luxury class.”
Built from a portfolio that focuses on automotive quality and long-term reliability, the Qorivva MPC5606E MCU features 64MHz core built on ‘Power Architecture’ technology, 512K Flash and 96K SRAM, image compression through a ‘Motion-JPEG’ encoder, IEEE1588 module for time stamping and BCM89810 BroadR-Reach PHY.
