The international automotive supplier Continental has shipped its 100 millionth radio receiver module in March. “This anniversary once again confirms the efficiency of our electronics production in Regensburg,” says Thomas Ebenhöch, Location and Plant Manager Regensburg, “because hardly anywhere else are the winds of competition blowing as sharp as in electronics.”
The success story of the small postage stamp sized module comes along with the growing importance of wireless connections in cars. As a pioneer in this field, Continental started series production of the module in 1996, in order to comfortably integrate, for example, functions like keyless access. Applications also include wireless data transmission of tire pressure monitoring values. The module consists of such a small printed circuit board (PCB) that it was given the middle name ‘Baby Board’. It houses all the components of a radio receiver in the ISM band (Industrial, Scientific and Medical high frequency band). The PCB can be placed as a functioning unit directly on the circuit board of a body control module. “The proud mark of 100 million units in 18 years shows that not only the technology of the baby boards was forward looking, but also the implementation exactly matches the needs of OEMs worldwide,” Andreas Wolf, Head of Continental’s Body & Security business unit. “But the development of wireless data transmission in the car goes on: For the future we are, for example, working to integrate the remote key directly with the smartphone. Continental also provides communication modules for this,” he added.
