Accelerating the driving experience

Stretching back as far as the late 1980s with the introduction of its first automotive device, Texas Instruments has a long history in the automotive industry and the company’s analogue and embedded processing technologies play a key role in automotive systems.

The company’s automotive offering is divided into four application sectors. These are:

• Advanced driver assistance systems: adaptive cruise control; night vision; blindspot detection; lane departure warning
• Infotainment & cluster: entertainment systems; head-up display; navigation systems; eCall
• Body electronics & lighting: automotive lighting; body control module (BCM); small motor systems; security systems
• Hybrid/electric and powertrain systems: HEV/EV systems; battery management; 48V technology; electric power steering 

These application sectors follow the current trends in automotive innovation such as the need to provide a more connected driving experience through in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) solutions that seamlessly connect life at home and on the road; a safer driving experience through ADAS solutions that make cars safer and provide a foundation that will ultimately enable autonomous driving; and the electrification of vehicles – the emergence of which has increased the demand for electronic solutions and reduced emissions.

The solutions offered by Texas Instruments all help to achieve a greener, safer drive and include battery management systems, inverter motor control, DC/DC converters, on-board and wireless chargers and broader technologies such as C2000 real time control and Hercules TMS570, plus ARM CORTEX-based safety microcontrollers.

Current ADAS systems are typically at level 2 autonomy, however, the end goal is of course full autonomous driving. While this utopia may be some way off, Texas Instruments is helping to provide a safer driving experience that can take us from ADAS to autonomous. This will include a shift to centralised signal processing, multi-modal sensor fusion, heavier use of deep learning, and connected computing.

Discussing these technologies further Karl-Heinz Steinmetz, General Manager, Automotive Systems at Texas Instruments has published the whitepaper ‘Driving the green revolution in transportation’ (below) where he underlines the current changes within the automotive sector and what is shaping our driving experiences of tomorrow.