How to build better automotive & e-mobility systems using digital signal controllers
Author : Rolf Horn | Applications Engineer | Digi-Key Electronics
01 April 2022
Both conventional automotive & e-mobility systems depend on effective operation of myriad electronic devices for convenience features, as well as mission-critical functional safety capabilities.
The full version of this article was originally featured in the April 2022 issue of EPDT magazine [read the digital issue] and the Digi-Key Article Library. And sign up to receive your own copy each month.
While presenting a wide diversity of requirements, these different applications fundamentally require the ability to operate in extreme conditions while delivering reliable, high-performance, real-time response. As a result, Rolf Horn, Applications Engineer at electronics component distributor, Digi-Key explains here, developers face a growing need for a consistent, powerful, well supported and scalable platform able to help simplify design and development of an expanding range of automotive and e-mobility use cases…
This article discusses a family of digital signal controllers (DSCs) from microcontroller (MCU) & integrated circuit (IC) manufacturer, Microchip Technology that can meet these requirements – and describes the use of these DSCs in reference designs for capabilities essential in automotive and e-mobility systems.
Diverse design challenges require flexible solutions
Whether designing for conventional or electric vehicles, developers need to address a growing list of applications, including power conversion subsystems, in-vehicle wireless charging, digital lighting systems and motor-control systems ranging from relatively simple stepper motor applications to complex regenerative braking systems in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Along with mission-critical requirements for functional safety, design footprint and bill of materials (BOM) requirements continue to rise in importance, as vehicle manufacturers work to respond to consumer demand and competitive pressure for greater safety, convenience, functionality and performance.
In responding to these requirements, the industry has already turned sharply toward digital solutions in nearly every vehicle subsystem. Subsystems throughout conventional passenger vehicles already rely on microcontrollers (MCUs) running four times more software code than commercial aircraft.
With evolving demand and competitive pressure, however, earlier microcontroller solutions can fall short of meeting the array of requirements now facing automotive designers. The need for different power rails in more electronic subsystems and associated high-voltage DC-DC conversion functionality, particularly in EVs, requires more sophisticated digital control capabilities. Other applications like in-vehicle wireless charging of mobile devices introduce a host of entirely new design requirements for multicoil wireless power transmitters compatible with the industry standard power receivers being built into more consumer devices. Vehicle lighting designs need to address technical characteristics like dimming, temperature, component ageing and others to deliver brighter headlights, pleasing colours and dimming effects in dashboards. Finally, precision digitally controlled motors are ubiquitous, even in conventional vehicles and, of course, provide the functional foundation for e-mobility.
Microchip Technology’s dsPIC33 DSC family is designed specifically to address these diverse requirements, using family members with specialised functional capabilities. The newest member of this family, the dsPIC33C, extends the performance and capabilities available in dsPIC33E and dsPIC33F DSCs for developers targeting more sophisticated applications.
Based on a digital signal processor (DSP) core, these DSCs combine the simplicity of an MCU with the performance of a DSP to meet evolving requirements for high performance, low-latency, real-time capability, while maintaining minimal footprint and BOM. Using Microchip’s extensive ecosystem of dsPIC33 development boards, reference designs and software development tools, developers can draw on different members of the dsPIC33 family to scale their designs to deliver the breadth of applications at the heart of automotive and e-mobility systems...
A more effective hardware base for automotive & e-mobility designs...
Implementing precision digital control loops for power conversion...
Implementing Qi-compliant wireless power transmitters...
Implementing compact digital lighting solutions...
Implementing advanced motor control systems with a single dsPIC33 DSC...
Conclusion
Using Microchip Technology’s dsPIC33 DSCs, developers need relatively few additional components to implement a broad range of digital power designs for conventional automotive and e-mobility applications. Backed by a rich set of software tools and reference designs, single-core and dual-core dsPIC33 DSCs provide a scalable platform for rapidly developing optimised solutions for power conversion, wireless charging, lighting and motor control, among others.
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