Automotive

The portfolio of roof-top antennas from HUBER+SUHNER has expanded with the five port SENCITY Rail MIMO. Accompanying its established SENCITY Rail antenna portfolio, the robust five port MIMO roof-top antenna enables system integrators and rail vehicle manufacturers to upgrade their vehicles to 4G/LTE and WiFi MIMO with minimal installation effort required.

  Full-digital instrument panels that give a high-end feel to any car are coming to the mid and entry ranges, enabled by new technology from STMicroelectronics. ST's new Accordo 5 family of automotive processors meet crucial display-performance and security demands in a low-power compact platform suitable for lower-cost vehicles.

Railway applications require cases that are highly resilient. The POLYRACK TECH-GROUP secured the development contract from Siemens for 2,500 constructed case systems with integrated train protection components.

  CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) has boosted its ability to reduce the noise generated by its trains, helping to make high-speed travel more viable for commuters and operators alike, with the latest beamforming technology.

Characterised by high levels of power density and integration, automotive electronics and highly integrated power electronic systems are increasingly being positioned in direct proximity to combustion engines. As a result the electronic components are subjected to significant combined electrical, thermal and mechanical loads.

The need for ESD protection in smartphones and automotive electronics is being driven by the demand for increased safety and reliability and to take the size of devices even smaller. CeraPad is the development from TDK Corporation, presented at electronica, an ultra-thin ceramic substrate that features integrated ESD protection within its multilayer structure and eliminates the need for discrete ESD components. 

Siemens WinCC OA has been selected to upgrade the SCADA system of the Heathrow rail link into the airport to increase reliability and availability. Passengers and staff using the rail link are set to benefit from Siemens technology, as part of a major upgrade project designed to optimise the efficiency of a transportation system first opened in 1998 to link the world’s busiest airport with Paddington station in central London.

A Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL4) certification has been announced for Artesyn's Embedded Computing ControlSafe Expansion Box Platform with ControlSafe Expansion Box computer and ControlSafe EXB software. Certified by TÜV SÜD, this Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) fail-safe and fault-tolerant computing platform is designed for a wide range of train control and rail signaling applications.

Another product has been added to ABSOPULSE's line of three-phase sine wave inverters designed for railway applications. The CTP-300R-F7 Series' 300VA units meet the requirements of EN50155 for electronic equipment used on rolling stock. They deliver a three-phase output of 208Vrms, line-to-line, at 60 or 400Hz.

Transportation systems and, in particular, railway systems, are growing markets that increasingly rely on software for command, communication, and control. Due to the impact of errors and accidents in this environment, software is developed to strict standards such as EN 50128. The standard is very specific on the use of good programming practices, tools, and techniques.