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innovation
Development continues in the field of analog technology,
which still outperforms digital in certain areas.
austriamicrosystems is a world leader in designing
and manufacturing high performance analog integrated
circuits or ICs. Its products are used
in sensors and sensor interfaces in the automotive,
power management, medical,
communications and industrial sectors.
In December 2009, the company
Analog continues to
drive critical functions By: Steve Barclay
Bernd Gessner, general
manager automotive,
austriamicrosystems AG
launched two new in-vehicle-network
ICs - the AS8520 and AS8530.
The AS8520 is dedicated to LIN
slaves that are found in car doors, car roof
modules, seat modules or similar applications.
The company says that application specific
features also make the AS8520 an ideal companion
IC for LIN networked window lift and sun roof actuators. The
AS8530 is a stripped down version of the AS8520 and supports
LIN sensor or actuator slaves. austriamicrosystems also recently
introduced its AS1716, a sensor designed for interfacing to Piezo
Electronic capacitive sensors.
Automotive Industries (AI) asked Gessner to talk about
the company’s products and its main focus areas.
Gessner: austriamicrosystems leverages its expertise in low
power consumption, high accuracy and high-voltage know-how
together with more than 25 years of experience in the industry. It
provides best-in-class integrated circuits (ICs) for automotive markets
worldwide. The company splits its activities into two main groups;
sensors and sensor interfaces. This includes its large portfolio of
magnetic encoders and ASICs, as well as the in-vehicle networking
group. This group deals with battery management solutions and
system basis chips (SBCs) that contain power management circuits
as well as LIN, CAN and FlexRay bus drivers.
Generally, austriamicrosystems has an excellent IP base for
safety-critical inductive and magnetic solutions. Its sensor interfaces
comply with the most stringent safety and quality requirements.
Applications include, for example, ESP and position measurement
for steering wheels, accelerator pedals and gearbox.
In the ASIC business, austriamicrosystems is recognized as a
specialist in challenging safety critical applications. The company
has experience in pre-crash warning systems, ESP, ABS
and accelerator pedal applications. In the area of
power battery management, and BUS systems,
it provides solutions for current and
future applications using its flexible and
scalable approach.
austriamicrosystems also focuses
on solutions for electric and hybrid
cars alongside its pioneer solutions
for conventional cars where it offers
high-side and low-side battery
management solutions for lead-acid
cars. In the area of in-vehicle network,
austriamicrosystems offers a
portfolio of application specific SBCs
with different interfaces and FlexRay
products, which offer the highest network
stability on the market.
AI: What makes your automotive
high performance analog semiconductors
best in class?
Gessner: austriamicrosystems offers
more than 27 years of experience in developing
high performance analog solutions, and continues to
invest significantly in research and development to offer cuttingedge
products and technologies.
austriamicrosystems’ success factors in the automotive industry
include its pool of talented engineers, effective customer interaction
and its own manufacturing facilities. The company’s 200mm (8”)
wafer fab in Austria is qualified for the most stringent automotive
requirements and provides best in class quality standards.
AI: What are some of the automotive applications for
your magnetic encoders?
Gessner: A magnetic rotary encoder is a complete system on
chip and together with a simple magnet, a highly accurate, noncontact
sensing system. It has the benefit of low wear and tear,
high reliability and lack of sensitivity to factors such as temperature
or magnetic stray fields. They are also cost effective.
Magnetic encoders can be used in virtually every application
where angles or distances need to be measured. Currently,
austriamicrosystems’ automotive magnetic rotary encoders are
strongly represented in module applications such as gearboxes,
steering and brushless DC solutions.
Steering is a safety critical application. To fulfill the toughest
automotive requirements, redundancy is a must. For these critical
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