Infineon said Tuesday that it is collaborating closely with BMW subsidiary BMW M GmbH on a new engine control unit for next-generation BMW M series cars. Infineon will contribute 32-bit flash microcontroller (MCU) chips from its new AUDO FUTURE line (Auto E-lectronics Jan. 31 2008), which is based on Infineon’s TriCore architecture.
BMW said the Infineon chips will enable M series engines to meet a range of current worldwide automotive emissions standards, including EURO5 and US-LEV2.
Infineon’s AUDO FUTURE family includes the 80 MHz TC1736 with 1 Mbyte (MB) of flash memory, the 80 MHz or 133 MHz TC1767 with 2 MB of flash, and the 180 MHz TC1797 with 4 Mbytes (MB) of flash and an integrated FlexRay controller. The FlexRay core integrated into the TC1797 is based on Infineon’s discrete CIC-310 FlexRay controller.
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The TriCore architecture on which the AUDO FUTURE MCUs are based combines the capabilities of a microprocessor, a microcontroller, and a digital signal processor (DSP) on a single chip.
Jochen Hanebeck, senior vice president and head of the Microcontrollers unit at Infineon’s Automotive, Industrial and Multimarket business group, said the architecture is optimized for real-time processing, and includes intelligent peripherals such as the MultiLink Interface (MLI), which is designed specifically to meet the requirements of highly sophisticated engine control systems. Hanebeck said the MLI can connect multiple AUDO microcontrollers in high-performance powertrain designs, allowing the MCUs to share data at rates of up to 37.5 Mbps.
In a 2007 benchmark study conducted by the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC), a TriCore processor (TC1796) produced the highest score ever for a device in its frequency range (Auto E-lectronics Jan. 18 2008).
“The 32-bit flash microcontroller from the Infineon AUDO FUTURE family meets our high performance and functionality requirements, and offers us an ideal platform for our next generation of control units,” said Herbert Bayerl, who heads engine control unit development at BMW M GmbH.