PowerSource

It’s usually more towards the end of the year before I start to think about predictions for where various segments of the power IC industry are heading. But lately I’ve been hearing a significant amount of talk about the future products for the automotive power management segment.

Car OEMs like GM, Toyota, Ford and the like are being forced to move to efficient power electronics for two reasons: First, because consumers are expecting their cars to be movable kitchens and rec centers with refrigerators and DVD/audio systems even when the car is parked and waiting to pick up the kids in the after-school queue, which means that the electronics are running off the battery. And second, because while electronics pull power from the car, they also can be a way to maximize fuel efficiency, which is becoming a hot button both with consumers as well as government regulators and the OEMs are eyeing moves to electronic motor control for subsystems which were previously mechanical, such as fuel pump control, power steering, or the compressor for the a/c.

So what does this automotive trend mean for power management IC vendors? All of these subsystems are controlled by the cars’ CAN-bus, while body electronics (door locks, window motors) are controlled by the LIN-bus. Currently several companies, like Maxim, Linear Technology, Freescale, and TI make CAN/LIN transceivers, but the next move will be to incorporate these into the power regulation ICs: When the network wants to wake up a subsystem, such as keyless entry, the first thing it does is shout to the power manager/regulator to goose the subsystem power.

This transceiver/power management integration is no walk in the park, because the power regulators are generally switched mode circuits operating at frequencies that can interfere with communication functions. Plus, these chips need to meet the power budget of only 3-50 uA in sleep mode, which is about half of their present requirement of around 100 microAmps. So, a definite challenge, but one that the chip vendors must meet to satisfy the car and electronic module makers’ demands.