The Automotive Market: On the Road Again!
By David Pheteplace, Bishop & Associates Inc.

Electronic and electrical systems in automobiles and light trucks are increasing each year, including navigation systems, satellite/digital radio, digital audio from MP3 players, Bluetooth connection to cell phones, keyless entry systems, collision-avoidance systems, night-view assistance, rearview monitors, blindspot monitoring systems, and hybrid vehicle electrical systems. Let’s take a look at how these systems work, and how they are integrated into the vehicle.

Infotainment Systems
Infotainment systems are the integration of the GPS navigation system, satellite/digital radio, DVD and CD players, MP3 players, voice recognition/activation, cell phones, address books, Bluetooth, telematic systems (such as OnStar), and Internet browsing. The physical/electronic integration is accomplished by a network architecture. There are many proprietary systems out there, but more standardization is starting to occur. One of these systems is MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport).

MOST is a vehicle bussing standard developed by a consortium of automotive OEMs, including Ford, BMW, Honda, and General Motors, tier 1 suppliers, such as Delphi and Yazaki, and electronics manufacturers such as Pioneer, Sony, Philips, and Motorola. Connector manufacturers, Molex, Tyco Electronics (TE), and Hosiden, are also members. MOST is intended for use with a fiber optic cabling system to form the backbone of the network, and is designed for ease of construction and use. The fiber optic cable is made of plastic that is simple to cut, strip, and insert into the active optic connectors, which do not need the extensive polishing operation on the fiber that most fiber optic connectors require.. The printed circuit board connectors in the MOST-compatible devices contain the receiver and transmitter that convert the electrical signals to light waves and back.

The MOST system can control up to 64 devices, from active speakers to video displays and GPS navigation.

MOST Network

Pictured below are some of the MOST harness and board components from Delphi. These interfaces have been standardized for inter-compatibility.

The MOST system requires an Intelligent Network Interface Controller (INIC), such as those provided by SMCS (see right). The OSB81110 supports Ethernet IP addressing, a LED plastic optical cable interface, and data transport at 150 Mb/s. This integrated circuit simplifies the design of controllers used to manage a MOST system in the car. The INIC would likely be built into an Integrated Head Unit (as pictured for the Ford Taurus) on the dashboard, which contains the video display for controlling all of the infotainment functions. Many manufacturers, however, are still developing their own proprietary control systems.

Collision Avoidance Systems and Blind Spot Systems

Although not widely deployed at this point, collision avoidance systems are definitely something we will see more of in the future. Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Lincoln, Infiniti, and Cadillac already have these systems in their vehicles. Ford has also added the Lincoln system to the Ford Taurus as an option.

These systems utilize laser and/or radar to detect objects in front of the car and to brake. Some systems are called adaptive cruise control, such as in the Mercedes-Benz, and maintain safe following distance on the highway, as well as the collision avoidance feature.

The radar systems require antennas to send and receive the radar signal. The reflected signal is processed by the vehicle’s collision avoidance system to constantly evaluate the changing situation in front of the car, to identify and react to threats, such as a vehicle that is braking hard or has stopped. The Ford system has an audio/visual alarm and then begins applying the brakes. The blind spot radar works on a similar principle.

Vision systems utilizing standard and infrared cameras are also being installed on vehicles. IEEE 1394 is one of the standard interconnects being used for these applications because of its high bandwidth and low latency. This allows high-resolution video to be seen on monitors in front of the driver.

The U.S. Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently proposed that all vehicles with restricted rear vision, particularly SUVs and trucks, install rear-viewing video cameras that are activated when the vehicle is in reverse. The intent of this new ruling is to prevent back-over injuries and fatalities. The NHTSA estimated it will save 292 lives per year and prevent 18,000 injuries when fully implemented in 2014.

These systems, of course, all add to the amount of high-speed and RF interconnect in the vehicle.

Electric/Hybrid Vehicles 

Electric and hybrid vehicles also contribute to the amount of interconnect in automotive applications. Each hybrid car has all of the wiring harnesses, infotainment systems, and other interconnect contained in all vehicles. In addition, however, these vehicles also have a special electrical harness connecting the batteries, charging systems, and drive systems. Presently, these assemblies are estimated to add an average of $200 in interconnect to each hybrid vehicle.

At a time when the number of vehicles produced has dipped, the amount of interconnect in each vehicle is increasing. As mentioned earlier, the average vehicle had $400 of interconnect in 2010. As the trend for putting more electronic systems into cars continues, we expect that number to grow by 15 to 20% per vehicle, adding up to $80 in interconnect to each vehicle. In hybrid vehicles, there is another 50% increase with the addition of the special interconnect required.

The worldwide automotive market for cable assemblies is expected to grow 3.8% in 2011, to $27 billion. The market will grow in the low single digits in North America and Europe, and the mid to high single digits in China and Asia Pacific.

As for hybrids and electric vehicles in 2011, we expect them to represent approximately 4% of the overall light vehicle sales.

—David Pheteplace, Managing Director, Cable Assembly Division, Bishop & Associates Inc.