Atmel intros automotive devices to ease system development in latest designs

NUREMBERG, GERMANY: Atmel Corp. has announced several new devices to enable an automotive designer to easily develop lower-cost designs with enhanced connectivity, improved safety and increased Li-Ion battery life.

These solutions will enable automotive designers to create innovative automotive applications with a Li-Ion battery management solution featuring active cell balancing, LIN transceiver families with ultra-low power wake-up management, a single-chip car access device for combi-key applications, and fully automotive-certified touch controllers.

Atmel is fully committed to the automotive market and is offering demonstrations of these solutions at Embedded World 2010. By offering various solutions to enable an automotive developer to bring their competitive products faster-to-market, Atmel addresses issues faced by these developers including the need for lower power, more integration, higher security and industry-certified products. Atmel's connected automotive solutions include:

Two new transceiver families for LIN automotive networking applications. Featuring ultra-low power wake-up management, industry's leading EMC robustness and excellent ESD protection, the new Atmel LIN families (stand-alone transceivers and higher integrated SBCs) serve automotive body electronics applications such as door modules, seat control or intelligent sensors, and powertrain applications such as engine control systems. Atmel's stand-alone transceivers are also suited for other body electronic applications where low-speed data communication and low cost are important.

Atmel's new single-chip AES-128 immobilizer and remote keyless entry AVR(R) microcontroller for combi-key applications. This combi-key application will enable a fully integrated solution for automotive manufacturers and consumers seeking an easier to use, integrated system.

The built-in AES-128 cryptographic engine, along with the Atmel protocol stack, provides very high security protection with fast authentication time which is critical to immobilizer systems. Atmel's ATA5795 is specifically targeted for high-volume, uni-directional car keys, while the immobilizer and the remote keyless entry functions are integrated in the same fob.

Atmel's battery management circuit ATA6870 is industry's first such automotive solution that supports active cell balancing with capacitors or inductors for high-cell-count Li-Ion batteries. Active balancing is a perfect method to constantly ensure the same voltage within all cells. This leads to higher efficiency and lifetime of batteries. Applications include electrical or hybrid vehicles, e-bikes and uninterruptible power supplies.