NXP Semiconductors Ships Two Millionth FlexRay Transceiver

In August of 2009, NXP announced that it reached the 1 million milestone for shipped FlexRay transceivers, an accomplishment that took the company three years to achieve. Since then, NXP has shipped an additional 1 million FlexRay transceivers to automotive OEMs. This clearly indicates the rapid increase in the implementation of FlexRay in-vehicle networking technology among car OEMs globally. NXP continues to invest in this technology and will enhance its FlexRay portfolio later this year with new products.

“Since we road tested our first FlexRay transceiver with BMW in 2006, our customers have enjoyed significant benefits from their adoption of this technology,” said Rob Hoeben, Product Line Marketing Manager FlexRay, NXP Semiconductors. With high-speed data communication, FlexRay enables innovative automotive network applications that help automobile OEMs to design greener and safer cars. Today, NXP has shipped more transceivers than each of its competitors and is the clear market leader in in-vehicle networking. It also is an example of our leading High-Performance Mixed-Signal solutions as these transceivers demonstrate state-of-the-art mixed signal IC design.”

“High-speed CAN network capabilities are being exceeded by the requirements of high end vehicle designs. As a result, Flexray will be increasingly used by vehicle OEMs to deliver the superior bandwidth and robustness needed for high specification models featuring the latest advances in powertrain, chassis, safety, comfort and infotainment. NXP’s latest achievement confirms this migration has indeed begun,” said Chris Webber, vice president at Strategy Analytics Global Automotive Practice.

With the broadest automotive transceiver portfolio in the market, NXP has taken the lead in providing the best-in-class FlexRay solutions and driving standardization across the industry through its work with the FlexRay Consortium and key partners, who have driven innovation in the industry. NXP’s FlexRay transceiver was first road tested by BMW with its 2006 BMW X5, the first series production car with a built-in FlexRay system for active suspension. In 2008 this was followed by the fifth-generation-BMW 7 series, which uses up to 11 FlexRay node transceivers. More recently in June 2010, NXP’s FlexRay technology was adopted by Audi for its new Audi A8.

Having passed the FlexRay Physical Layer Conformance Test - the industry standard for FlexRay products, NXP’s FlexRay transceivers offer excellent Electro Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) performance as well as high Electro Static Discharge (ESD) protection. They actively monitor system performance using dedicated error and status information (readable by any microcontroller), as well as internal voltage and temperature monitoring. They also help to reduce CO2 exhaust through advanced power saving modes and very low current consumption in Standby and Sleep mode.

Increasing demands for higher bandwidth, real-time capability and reliability were the driving forces behind the design of FlexRay. FlexRay is used for high-speed data communication in automotive electronics networks and enables the development of innovative, next-generation systems that help the automotive industry take another step towards zero emission and zero accident driving. It also helps counteract the increase in cables as more and more systems are connected in the car, reducing weight and the use of raw materials. Although initially envisioned as an enabling technology for automotive X-by-wire (drive-by-wire, steer-by-wire) applications, it is now also being adopted for other applications such as reducing CO2 emissions, improving manufacturing efficiencies, safety regulations and the convenience features.