Connected Car News: Intellias, Elmos, Renesas,Socionext, Vitesco Tech & onsemi.

May 16, 2023

In connected car news are Intellias, Elmos, Renesas,Socionext, Vitesco Tech & onsemi.

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Intellias, a global technology partner to Fortune 500 companies, announces its partnership with Elmos, a global leading supplier of analog/mixed-signal semiconductors for automotive sensing and control solutions. Intellias will reinforce Elmos with software engineering expertise and support development processes to create software for lighting, ranging, and optical sensors used in the most modern vehicles.

Elmos is developing innovative automotive semiconductor applications for 40 years. Elmos components, so-called integrated circuits (ICs), supporting global automotive megatrends such as autonomous driving, ADAS, e-mobility, sustainability, safety, connectivity, and comfort. Intellias and Elmos will be strong partners for joint software development projects. Both companies have already started to share knowledge that will be kept and grown within the software division Area 21 of Elmos.

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced its successful completion of acquiring Panthronics AG ("Panthronics"), a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high-performance wireless products. The acquisition was completed as of June 2, 2023 JST, June 1, 2023 CEST, following required regulatory approval. Renesas also announced 13 "Winning Combination" solution designs that combine Renesas’ products with Panthronics’ unique Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology, showcasing the continued expansion of Renesas’ portfolio, specifically in the connectivity space.

"We are excited to welcome the Panthronics team to Renesas, and announce 13 Winning Combinations showcasing the technological synergy between the companies on the same day," said Sailesh Chittipeddi, Executive Vice President & General Manager of the Embedded Processing, Digital Power and Signal Chain Solutions Group. "These Winning Combinations unite Renesas’ broad range of embedded processing, power, connectivity, and analog portfolios with Panthronics’ NFC technology, providing customers with turnkey NFC solutions."

NFC is now widely used in our daily life, and its market is expected to grow exponentially for both industrial and automotive use cases. Headquartered in Graz, Austria, Panthronics has been offering advanced NFC chipsets and software that are easy to apply, small-in-size, and highly efficient for payment, IoT, asset tracking and wireless charging.

The acquisition provides Renesas with in-house capability to instantly capture growing market opportunities for NFC. With Panthronics’ NFC expertise and skilled engineering talent, Renesas will be able to offer customers a compelling breadth of connectivity solutions in growing areas spanning fintech, IoT, and automotive spheres.

To immediately demonstrate the companies’ technological advantages, Renesas announced 13 Winning Combinations integrating Renesas’ embedded processing, power, connectivity, and analog portfolios with Panthronics’ unique NFC technology. These market-ready reference designs allow customers to instantly start developing NFC systems with minimal cost and time. Panthronics’ devices are also part of Renesas Quick-Connect IoT, a platform of standardized hardware, and the Quick-Connect Studio which enables the "drag and drop" feature in system design to quickly and easily add required functions and features.

13 Winning Combinations featuring Renesas and Panthronics products:

Smart NFC Access Control SystemMobile Point of Sale (POS) TerminalHigh-Performance Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger Wall BoxMetered Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station1-Phase Power MeterGreen 3-Phase Smart Energy MeterSingle Board ComputerHigh-Performance Human Machine Interface (HMI) SystemHMI Solution for AppliancesIoT Communications Gateway HubSmart Lock with Super-Low Power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LEPersonal Safety TrackerPrinter Control Panel with NFC Authentication

Socionext Inc., a global leader in high precision sensor technology, today introduced the SC1260 Series radio-frequency ranging sensors for automotive applications. This new series utilizes the 60GHz frequency band and time-division multiplexing (TDM-MIMO) operation with multiple transmitting and receiving antennas that can detect the position and movement of passengers in a vehicle with maximum accuracy.

This SC1260 has an all-in-one configuration that incorporates antennas and radar signal operation circuits, to achieve maximum detection accuracy in an ultra-low-power, ultra-compact package. The high-precision sensors use a wide band of 6.8GHz (57.1 to 63.9GHz) with an expanded number of receiving antennas by TDM-MIMO operation and built-in radar signal operation circuits for range-finding and angle calculation. The devices enable easy acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) position information without requiring advanced expertise in high-frequency devices and signal operation. combines antennas, RF circuits, AD converters, FIFO memory, SPI interface, and intelligent power control sequencer for flexible duty cycle control. Power required is only 0.72mW at 0.1% duty cycle operation.

These capabilities make the series optimal for applications such as tracking the position and movements of passengers in a vehicle while suppressing the load on the vehicle battery when the engine is off.

The SC1260 Series complies with the global broadband 60GHz radio equipment standard. Sample and evaluation kit shipments are scheduled for June, with production volumes to be available in Q1 2024.

"By leveraging our extensive experience and knowledge accumulated through the development of millimeter frequency wireless communication ICS and 24GHz radio-frequency ranging sensors, Socionext has become the first company worldwide to develop ultra-compact, ultra-low power 60GHz radio-frequency ranging sensors for automotive applications with built-in radar signal operation circuits for range-finding and angle calculations," said Teruaki Hasegawa, Head of Socionext's IoT & Radar Sensing Business Unit.

Moreover, TDM-MIMO operation enables high-precision sensing, such as the detection of passengers when three people are sitting in a row inside the vehicle.

Following the debut of its SC1260AR3, Socionext will continue to develop products that meet customer needs and applications.

Socionext is a leader in the advancement of sensing applications through its unique lineup of radio-frequency ranging sensor devices and will serve the diverse needs of a variety of customers in this field by bringing new and enhanced user experiences.

SC1260 Series (SC1260AR3) Specifications

Key Features

TDM-MIMO operation, 3D position detection (X, Y, Z coordinate output), 3D presence/absence detection, range FFT output, automatic intermittent measurement, high performance power line noise filter, 11-bit oversampling ADC, advanced sequencer

Average Power Consumption

0.72mW at 0.1% duty cycle operation

Transmission Frequency

57.1 to 63.9GHz

Package / Size

FC-BGA / 6mm x 9mm x 1.2mm

– Vitesco Technologies and onsemi announced a 10-year long-term supply agreement worth $1.9 billion (€1.75 billion) for silicon carbide (SiC) products to enable Vitesco Technologies’ ramp in electrification technologies. Vitesco Technologies, a leading international manufacturer of modern drive technologies and electrification solutions, is providing an investment of $250 million (€230 million) to onsemi for new equipment for SiC boule growth, wafer production and epitaxy to secure access to SiC capacity. The equipment will be used to produce SiC wafers to support Vitesco Technologies’ growing SiC demand. In parallel, onsemi, a leader in intelligent power and sensing technologies, will continue to invest substantially into end-to-end SiC supply chain.

In addition, Vitesco Technologies and onsemi will collaborate on optimized customer solutions for Vitesco Technologies. onsemi's highly efficient EliteSiC MOSFETs will be used by Vitesco Technologies to execute the recent orders as well as future projects for traction inverters and electric vehicle drives.