Infineon, MediaTek team for Android smart cockpit
Infineon Technologies has teamed with MediaTek and its design house partners on an Android-based smart cockpit design based on the Traveo microcontroller and an entry-level Dimensity Auto SoC.
The reference design combines the Mediatek Auto chip running Android with the Infineon Traveo CYT4DN microcontroller as the safety companion to meet the ASIL-B specification. This monitors the content rendered by the SoC and takes over with reduced functionality in case of an error, in addition to normal companion functions such as communication with the vehicle network.
The design supports a resolution of 1920 x 720 pixels for clusters and the in-vehicle infotainment display.
The trend in the automotive industry is towards digital cockpits, with buttons and controls disappearing from the dashboard and being replaced by advanced displays. As one of the key systems in a vehicle, the digital cockpit system needs to deliver high performance features to the vehicle users while meeting functional safety targets.
The traditional way to achieve such goals is to run the digital cockpit system on a high-performance SoC with a hypervisor. However, the up-front investment required to get started with such a system is in the seven-figure range, and the license fees for the operating system and hypervisor add to the overall cost of the system, making it economically unattractive for mid- to low-end car models.
- Mediatek adds GenAI and ray tracing to automotive chips
- MediaTek automotive platform targets always-connected vehicles
Using the Traveo microcontroller reduces the system cost for both hardware and software as the Dimensity SoC runs on the open-source Android operating system, eliminating the need for a hypervisor and a large commercial operating system. This avoids the need for large investments in software or license fees. Suppliers and manufacturers can maintain and update the software themselves, further reducing costs.
“Our automotive SoC, combined with Infineon’s Traveo T2G MCU, will provide a cost-effective cockpit solution that delivers new possibilities to OEMs and Tier 1 companies,” said Xiong Jian, vice general manager of the Automotive product line at MediaTek. “This option will greatly boost the performance and capabilities of the cockpit in entry-level car models.”
“A modern cockpit supports the driver and increases driving comfort for all vehicle occupants. That is why it is important to us that cost optimized vehicle models can also be equipped with digital solutions. Together with MediaTek and our partners, we are pleased to pave the way for digital cockpits for all vehicles,” said Ralf Koedel, Vice President Microcontroller Smart Mobility at Infineon. “The Traveo T2G CYT4DN MCU incorporates our low-power flash memory, multiple high-performance analog and digital peripherals and enables the creation of a secure computing platform.”
Manufactured on an advanced 40nm process, the devices feature a 2.5D graphics engine, sound processing, two ARM Cortex-M7 CPUs for primary processing at up to 320 MHz and a Cortex-M0+ CPU for peripheral and safety processing. The family also features a 720p GFX and a unique 327-ball BGA package. In addition, the Traveo T2G CYT4DN family includes embedded peripherals that support Controller Area Network with Flexible Data Rate (CAN FD), Local Interconnect Network (LIN), Clock Extension Peripheral Interface (CXPI) and Gigabit Ethernet. Memory options include 4MB of VRAM, 6MB of Flash and 768KB of RAM on a per-line basis.
www.infineon.com/traveocluster
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
