ST launches three automotive chips to drive innovation
STMicroelectronics has doubled down on chip-scale automotive progress. Below is a roundup of three notable products.
To meet the requirements of next-generation vehicles and their systems, STMicroelectronics (ST) introduced a series of new products to the automotive industry last month. Automakers can use these products to upgrade the performance of existing self-driving cars or to design the next generation of vehicles.
ST has released several new auto parts, including the L9918 alternator voltage regulator, to improve vehicle safety and performance.
Some of these innovations include alternator voltage regulators for stabilizing electrical systems, image sensors for driver monitoring systems, and microcontrollers for popularizing software-defined vehicles. This article details the latest automotive innovations that ST has brought to market.
L9918 Alternator Voltage Regulator
Automakers often encounter stability challenges when designing vehicle electrical systems. ST claims it can eliminate stability issues in 12 V electrical systems with its new alternator voltage regulator L9918 (datasheet).
The device is equipped with an excitation high-side power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) driver that can deliver up to 13 A to the alternator’s excitation coil.
It also has a freewheeling diode circuit that modulates the rotor current when the excitation is off. Thanks to the closed-loop operation supported by the product, the vehicle voltage is always kept at the target point even if the power demand changes.
This product contains a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus interface. This allows easy communication between the regulator and the vehicle’s electronic control unit (ECU). Therefore, the target point to keep the voltage stable communicates with the ECU through the LIN bus interface.
According to the company, the L9918 alternator voltage regulator complies with the VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie) LIN alternator regulator specification. It is also AEC-Q 100 and ASIL-B qualified for use in functional safety systems.
VD/VB1940 Hybrid Image Sensor
Next-generation vehicle systems must feature advanced safety systems, including driver monitoring system (DMS) technology. ST’s new VD/VB1940 5.1 MP image sensor (databrief) supports such DMS through its 3D stacked backside illuminated (BSI) wafer technology.
ST says the image sensor can monitor the entire vehicle interior and find applications in passenger seat belt checks, vital signs monitoring, child departure detection, gesture recognition and high-quality video/picture recording. DMS sensors detect driver alertness and use near-infrared (NIR) imaging to analyze driver head and eye movements in all lighting conditions.
The image sensor has rolling and global shutter modes. Rolling shutter mode allows the device to produce a single HDR color frame output via the MIPI CSI 2 interface. In this mode, the user can activate the function to convert the RGB NIR mode to RGGB format compatible with the vehicle ECU. RGB pixels upscale the NIR image to full resolution in global shutter mode.
Like the L9918 alternator voltage regulator, the image sensor is AEC-Q100 qualified.
Stellar P6 and P7 Automotive Microcontrollers
ST also released the Stellar P6 and P7 series of microcontrollers, the latest additions to ST’s Stellar family of MCUs. ST calls the new Stellar MCUs game-changers for the series, as they aid the transition to software-defined vehicles. Stellar P MCUs can be used in drivetrain technology and domain-oriented architectures for electric vehicles.
These products are manufactured using energy-efficient 28nm FD-SOI technology. According to ST, the Stellar P6 is the first in the industry to support a new high data rate in-vehicle communication protocol called the CAN-XL in-vehicle communication standard for 2024 models. With this protocol, the device ensures low-latency, high-security communication between domains and between driving ECUs at the periphery of the vehicle.
In addition, Stellar P6 devices contain six Arm Cortex R52+ processor cores with up to 20 MB of non-volatile phase-change memory. The device also features a storage facility with twice the capacity of up to 20 MB for OTA reprogramming.
According to Luca Rodeschini, ST’s vice president of automotive and discrete, the MCU integrates advanced motion control and energy management domains with drive functions, ensuring a smooth transition from traditional ICE/EV to new drive traction architecture modes for software-defined vehicles.
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