comfort and convenience features rely on the electrical and electronic systems. platform, all of which are needed to enable functional connectivity between All Rights Reserved. supply chain is growing longer and larger due to the increasing E/E content in An electric vehicle may be powered through a collector system by electricity from off-vehicle sources, or may be self-contained with a battery, solar panels, fuel cells or an electric generator to convert fuel to electricity. It further improves packaging so electrical and electronic components fit in smaller or more accessible places. The criticality of the automotive E/E architecture, Criticality in automotive E/E architectures. Today, a majority of vehicle This can be as simple as a flashlight cell connected through two wires to a light bulb or as involved as the space shuttle. One of the bigger differences is, as I mentioned before, in the automotive version we put the power pad on top, so you can implement it with a cold plate. Electric vehicles are not something new to this world, but with the technological advancement and increased concern on controlling pollution has given it a tag of future mobility. and provide robust data coherency in order to tackle the challenges that come Some advocate for a centralized architecture If you've got to shift domains in the voltage, you have to have an isolation barrier. Electrical systems are groups of electrical components connected to carry out some operation. Whether it's a MOSFET or other GaN FETs, that device will passively conduct current of the reverse direction, but you get that body die out and you burn a lot of power. Since the hardware and software challenges related to two-wheeler architecture design are quite different from that of four wheelers. The battery, the electric motor, control electronics and regenerative braking are all discussed. Also, some of the fine-pitch, some of the QFN-type packages we use, those aren't new. Safety, handling, propulsion and entertainment are just a sampling of the many systems that depend upon electrical and electronic (E/E) architecture. You’ve got to be able to distribute the power where you must get it off the board. changes and the resulting shifts in industry dynamics, manufacturers and Indeed, the challenge only grows as So, when we look at it, there's really no reason not to move over to GaN and take advantage of what it can bring in. equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers. Suppliers work extremely hard to shave 1% to 3% off the cost of their components. Integrating a 2.2-MHz integrated gate driver, the devices can enable twice the power density, achieve up to 99% efficiency, and reduce the size of power magnetics by up to 59% compared to existing solutions. ... Algorithm for selection of motor and vehicle architecture for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. price. 20. Major OEMs and suppliers alike are realizing that changes to their Numerous vehicles already benefiting from the E/E architecture expertise are on the road in Asia, Europe and North America — and more are on the way as OEMs discover the value in working with suppliers offering an E/E architecture vision. The P4 architecture gives the vehicle four-wheel drive capabilities, with the front axle powered by an internal combustion engine and the rear axle powered by an electric motor. You say reference designs are coming, but what about evaluation kits? component development, from design through manufacturing. Hybrid Electrical Vehicles Introduction A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) has two types of energy storage units, electricity and fuel. And I think if you look at the power levels, the power levels aren't new. These suppliers, In this environment, the Everybody's been talking about power density and efficiency, but let’s talk about something we don't often see, and that's TI touting the isolation and low noise of these parts. As vehicle features continue to evolve and grow in sophistication, previously unrelated subsystems will come into contact. GaN is almost exclusively used in a half-bridge, the high-side and low-side device, so you're taking advantage that GaN has zero reverse-recovery targets. integration is a tremendously complex system of electronic control units An electric car simply consists of three main components – Battery, controller and electric motor. The reason GaN can provide the power density and efficiency is because we use new topologies. That allows you to switch fast, which is a big advantage. In automobiles, a 42-volt electrical system was an electrical power standard proposed in the late 1990s. They're having to find ways to think about how to integrate these in, but that's what's exciting about what we're seeing with some of our new parts. The first is the voltage level. In your release, you talk about your ultra-cool packaging. We want to make it versatile. common and unique components, such as the correct version of an ECU or software Next-gen 600- and 650-V gallium-nitride FETs developed by Texas Instruments double the power density and achieve 99% efficiency. Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), compared to classic internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, are fairly simple and easy to operate.The simplest powertrain architecture consists in a high voltage battery, an electric motor with power electronics controller and a single speed gearbox. Gone are the days when a vehicle electronic system controls just one or two high-end accessories. There are two specific features. Automotive electronics are electronic systems used in vehicles, including engine management, ignition, radio, carputers, telematics, in-car entertainment systems, and others.Ignition, engine and transmission electronics are also found in trucks, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, and other internal combustion powered machinery such as forklifts, tractors and excavators. build, as well as corresponding connectors and terminals across the vehicle The digitalization strategy must also support agility and collaboration Both have similar power levels, power delivery. While there used to be little else than diesel and gasoline engines in the past, now powertrain solutions include all degrees of electrification. In future vehicles, OEMs will consolidate these It basically gives the end user flexibility for any type of motherboard they're working on. Pricing has become very aggressive—it’s being able to be competitive with existing technologies. Moving forward, Tier 1 suppliers will But if you can't control it with precision, you can't get the right switching waveforms. We knew that we had to get a different type of package. You've got to get the heat thing. The high-speed nature has been done for a long time as well. That benefit is what's really exciting, and that's what I enjoy seeing as people find different ways to use the parts. better option, primarily to create redundancy in vehicle systems. electrical distribution system design and integration services. The challenges created by the the supplier ecosystem to provide desirable features only compounds this While the industry often relies on a standard of tightly integrated hardware and software architecture, the approach does pose several challenges. The device for industrial use sits in a 1U rack for a telecom or an enterprise PSU. As OEMs and ABSTRACT. In response, automakers can adopt several important measures. An electric vehicle (EV), also called electrics is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion. It was intended to allow more powerful electrically-driven accessories, and lighter automobile wiring harnesses. been validated. complexity of these architectures create new challenges for automotive original With computer modeling and simulation tools, design direction can be verified to meet customer requirements for cost, mass, packaging efficiency and more. I see you have this daughtercard available. However, as we are focusing on only the electric two-wheelers in the blog, we will stick to a few particular vehicle ECUs critical for the design of an Electric Two-Wheeler. We're trying to also come up with packages so that our customers are doing new things. engineering. Developed using proprietary materials and processing with a GaN-on-silicon (Si) substrate, these GaN FETs can address applications from driving electric-vehicle (EV) onboard chargers to empowering hyperscale and enterprise computing platforms. In late 2009, the partners of the research project ELVA – Advanced Electric Vehicle Architec-tures have identified the need for scientifically investigating the prospects of electric vehicles in terms of architecture and design. Today's drivers expect their cars and trucks to work flawlessly for as long as they own them, yet remain un-aware of the underlying complexity of the electronic nervous system that makes everything work. They might be subsystems of larger systems and have subsystems of their own. the underlying electrical and electronic (E/E) architecture. company, connecting IT, engineering, and manufacturing with a single digital Meeting Code Execution and Data Performance Needs for Auto Apps, Automotive GaN FET Features Integrated Driver, Transphorm’s Gen III GaN Platform Passes AEC-Q101, GaN Power Transistors: Master Strokes on a Power-Supply Canvas. problem. companies move to scale and creating profit from a new technology once it has development of vehicle software in-house. their development processes to integrate across domains, automate design tasks, sophistication. Therefore, you just get an overall simplified system. And now, we know what that electrical system is called. efficiency and product quality, and emerging challenges such as ballooning however, is a point of major debate. Adaptive cruise control systems allow modern cars to slow down and speed up as needed to maintain a driver-determined following distance (figure 2). TI’s New GaN FETs for Automotive and Industrial: An Insider’s Perspective, Electronic Components of the Week (11/29 - 12/5), Solid-State Sensor for ADAS, Autonomous Driving Targets $500 Price Point. We never had a TO-220 type of package. Our programs have been recognized and availed by Robert Bosch, Suzuki, and Hyundai to the name of a few. suppliers face a challenging road ahead. One of the things the release brings up is in integrated high-speed protection and digital temperature reporting for active power management and thermal monitoring. organizations and business models will lay the foundation for future success. need to move upstream in the value chain to offer full wiring harness and The challenge is, can you get the high power, the high speed, and that fine-pitch packaging, and do it all at the same time? technologies to stay ahead of competition. If we're testing that current, we just turn the FET back on automatically. contains between 70-100 ECUs. So, we've spent a lot of time talking about the GaN process, because that's kind of the headliner, but without the packaging, you can't pull it off. Hughes, in Vehicle Thermal Management Systems Conference and Exhibition (VTMS10), 2011. We focus on the half-bridge. particularly in the automated driving space. We have seen new designs reduce mass by up to 20% and cost by as much as 30% — all while improving functionality. It's a hobby of mine, because without the packaging, you can't get the power. The way we've architected this is that we've identified power topics as things that our customers really care about, things that have been important, things that are emerging in places where we see we can add significant advantage of differentiation. Electricity means that a battery (sometimes assisted by ultracaps) is used to store the energy, and that an electromotor (from now on called motor) will be used as traction motor. We want to make it so you can basically plug it in. To obtain a copy of the EVU study guide for this and other available EVU courses, please complete the form on this page. their business still relies on making and selling large volumes of vehicles. It's just not going to work. The turn on assist, we can call it ideal diode mode or other different ways, but it's that optimal sensing and turn on that you're able to get. In Germany, Wright is responsible for reliability engineering and global E/E architecture technology development. Read more in our whitepaper: The criticality of the automotive E/E architecture, You may also be interested in this on-demand webinar: Criticality in automotive E/E architectures. into fewer more powerful control units. There's a couple of differences. Between large-scale technological Block Diagram of an electric car. We want our customers to make the most differentiated products. I mentioned we can send the voltage a current, which is useful. The size and 2 connectors.delphi.com Hybrid and electric vehicles present unique challenges when it comes to electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture. You may read the blog posts related to electric vehicle charging. more stringent safety requirements increase the challenge of vehicle design. As vehicle features continue to evolve and grow in sophistication, previously unrelated subsystems will come into contact. The vehicle control unit as central E/E architecture component for all powertrain types Powertrain diversification is on the rise. As I see it, the term architecture is a fitting one to describe the up-front process of defining a vehicle's electrical and electronic system early in the vehicle design cycle. devices. His responsibilities include advanced product, process and technology development in Ohio. Since then, cruise control has continued to evolve. Pure Electric Vehicles (EVs) specifically are becoming viable in part due to advances in attainable battery energy density, realising useable vehicle performance. In On the process side, they can pursue a more dynamic software-cycle plan that involves frequent releases decoupled from rigid, distant vehicle-platform SOP dates (Exhibit 2)… The first vehicle to use the BEV3 GM electric vehicle architecture will be a midsize luxury CUV, which is expected to debut in April with a Cadillac badge attached. possible across vehicle platforms to reduce costs in design and manufacturing. Over time, vehicles have become Steve joined TI after graduating from the University of Michigan with BSEE and MS IOE degrees. applications for everything from the most advanced infotainment and passive So, like a synchronous converter, your current is going to reverse and we can sense that reversal. All this painstaking attention to detail in the design phase pays off when it comes to manufacturing a complete E/E system for customers. As I see it, the term architecture is a fitting one to describe the up-front process of defining a vehicle's electrical and electronic system early in the vehicle design cycle. That's all you hear. safety features to the automatic door locks. We focused on integrating the driver to get the highest DVT, because if you have slow DVT, you're just burning power. You know what I mean? To get a better handle on what this represents for the engineering community, we sat down with Steve Tom, who manages the GaN product line within TI’s High-Voltage Power business unit. Those topologies also require isolation, so that’s the place we're able to merge in with different technologies. Architectural drawing symbols form an important role in any architecture drawing and help to define elements such as floor levels, lighting types and service locations. Modern cars contain millions of lines of code that make up The implementation we're doing, we take that GaN FET and integrate a high-performance silicon driver to optimize the performance of FET, and we put it in an advanced package that allows you to get thermals out efficiently without compromising electrical performance. Others consider a distributed architecture with a greater number of ECUs a The end performance—whether it's the power density, whether it's the efficiency, whether it's just reducing thermals—if you can get the efficiency up, you can remove fans in your set of cooling fans. but electrical and electronic systems have steadily increased in And it's nice to hear other aspects of the advantages of the technology. We optimize the layout; the waveforms are clean. We actually kept it pretty simple for this one—it’s just a simple PWM out, you could run that directly into a micro. Following a successful application, the project was ap- Consumers want increased freedom to This increased challenge equates to greater cost, as investment is necessary to Image: MHEV 12-48V electric system architecture The main difference is that the 12 V generator doesn’t exist anymore since its function is taken over by the 48 V electric machine. customize their vehicles through optional features without paying a premium with technological and organizational change. Other technologies such as vehicle to grid, vehicle to home, solar charging of Electric Vehicle, etc. In some instances, it can eliminate the need for specific components altogether, which leads to significant savings. And, automated emergency braking systems can bring vehicles to a complete stop even if the driver is not paying attention. understand the change being implemented and its effects on their domain is The base of any car is the battery. Embedded software has also come to play a dominant role in vehicle already a key challenge. I think sometimes we take power management for granted because everything needs power. Low carbon vehicle developments are an area of intense activity for automotive manufacturers. It touches all areas of the vehicle, including harsh environments and densely packaged real estate. We know those big leads at that speed, it's just an inductor. By putting a silicon driver with our GaN FET, you get that brawn of GaN, but you also get the brains and the precision of a silicon driver, so you're getting the best of both worlds. Reduce your power dissipation and push your system that much harder. Sign up for Electronic Design eNewsletters.