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Freescale Targets Advanced Driver Assistance Systems with High-Performance Automotive Microcontroller

DETROIT--Responding to growing market demand and regulatory pressure for advanced automotive safety features, Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a high-performance 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) optimized for sensor-based collision-avoidance systems.

Built on Power Architecture™ technology, Freescale’s high-performance MPC5561 MCU is ideal for driver assistance systems that incorporate image sensors and radar technology. The MPC5561 delivers an exceptional combination of high-performance computation and signal processing capabilities, while offering the reliability and familiarity of a proven instruction set architecture. The highly integrated MCU contains a rich set of interfaces and peripherals, such as a high-speed image sensor interface and a FlexRay™ network controller, specifically tailored for advanced automotive safety systems.

“Safety is a driving force behind the latest automotive designs, and Freescale is investing in next-generation technologies and products that will help enable autonomous vehicle safety systems,” said Paul Grimme, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Transportation & Standard Products Group. “Ultimately, these safety systems will be smart, aware and automatic. Freescale provides the enabling technology, from sensors and analog ICs to advanced MCUs like the MPC5561, to help make autonomous vehicles a life-saving reality.”

The MPC5561 supports a wide array of sensor-based automotive safety systems, such as adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, backup warning, occupant detection and active lighting systems. These and other advanced driver assistance applications typically require small-footprint printed circuit boards (PCBs) containing compact yet powerful single-chip MCUs with high levels of integration.

Technology for Avoiding Collisions, Saving Lives

According to a report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) in April 2006, driver inattention is the leading factor in most accidents and near-crashes. The report stated that 80 percent of collisions and 65 percent of near collisions involve some form of driver inattention caused by drowsiness, cell phone usage and other distractions.

Advanced driver assistance systems can help offset driver inattention and enhance driver safety by using a network of sensors and processors to detect and avoid potential collisions. These systems are based on the premise that the best way to save lives is to avoid collisions altogether.

A prime example of a collision-avoidance system is adaptive cruise control, which enables a vehicle to adjust its cruising speed automatically based on the proximity and speed of other automobiles—without driver intervention. Adaptive cruise control uses radar technology along with powerful processors to help the driver maintain a safe distance from another vehicle while on the road. The system can respond to changing traffic conditions more quickly and precisely than the driver. Similar collision-avoidance technology can enable blind-spot warning and parking assistance systems designed to alert drivers to potential obstacles in their path.

About the MPC5561 MCU

The MPC5561 integrates high-performance processing capabilities, flash memory and industry-standard interfaces, such as the FlexRay protocol, on an automotive-grade system-on-chip (SoC) device. The MCU features Freescale’s power-efficient e200 core, which has been enhanced for advanced automotive safety applications. It also includes a single-instruction, multiple-data (SIMD) engine to support signal processing and floating point-intensive applications.

The MPC5561 is built on the highly successful MPC5500 automotive MCU platform and peripherals. Software and pin compatibility enables developers to reuse their legacy software and hardware architectures and protect their investment in application code and development tools. A comprehensive suite of hardware and software tools for the MPC5561 is available to help accelerate and simplify system design. Third-party development support for MPC55xx family platforms and Power Architecture technology is available through leading independent tool vendors providing compilers, debuggers and simulation environments. Freescale also offers an extensive DSP library.

MPC5561 Product Features

  • 132MHz version of e200 core enhanced for automotive safety applications
  • Single instruction/multiple data (SIMD) module for DSP and floating point operations
  • Variable length encoding (VLE) capability designed to help reduce code footprint by up to 30 percent for improved code density and reduced memory requirements
  • 1MB of embedded flash memory with Error Correction Coding (ECC) and Read-While-Write (RWW) capability
  • 192KB static RAM (SRAM) with ECC
  • 32KB unified cache (with line-locking) that can be configured as additional RAM
  • Communication interfaces: 2x FlexCAN controllers compatible with TouCAN, 4x eSCI and 2x DSPI
  • Integrated dual-channel FlexRay™ controller for vehicle network
  • Crossbar architecture for efficient data flow
  • 32-channel Enhanced Direct Memory Access controller
  • High-speed interface for analog and CMOS image sensors
  • 5/3.3V input/output (I/O), 5V analog-to-digital controller (ADC), 3.3V/1.8V bus, 1.5V core
  • Available in 324-pin plastic ball grid array (PBGA) packages

MPC5561 Availability

Freescale plans to offer MPC5561 samples and the MPC5561EVB evaluation board in Q1 2007. For more product information, visit http://www.freescale.com/files/pr/mpc5561.html.

Freescale: The Leader in Automotive Semiconductors

Freescale is the No. 1 supplier of automotive semiconductors, with more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry. Freescale technology is used in an overwhelming majority of new vehicles. Freescale’s sensors, analog products and 8-, 16- and 32-bit microcontroller families provide intelligence and connectivity for advanced safety, body electronics, chassis, engine control, powertrain, driver information and telematics. Freescale is a pioneer in FlexRay™ technology and was the first supplier to integrate CAN, LIN and flash memory technologies on automotive MCUs.

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company in July 2004. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500®, is one of the world’s largest semiconductor companies with 2005 sales of $5.8 billion (USD). www.freescale.com. 

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