32-bit processor targets automotive-power-train control

-- EDN, 4/13/2000

Infineon has used its TriCore unified processor architecture to build a 32-bit processor (picture) for automotive-power-train applications, including engine management and transmission. The company pairs a TriCore CPU with a 32-bit peripheral-control processor, which runs a set of peripheral blocks. TC1775, known as "Audo," uses a three-layer architecture. The control algorithms run on the top application layer; the bottom, physical layer concerns the peripheral-I/O connections. Between the two, a transfer layer mediates between the needs of the application layer and those of the I/O layer. This architecture maps well to the automotive operating-system specification, OSEK, Infineon says, and achieves hard-real-time control.

Infineon Semiconductor, www.infineon.com.

-by Graham Prophet