STMicroelectronics showcases silicon solutions to make cars safer and smarter

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), one of the world's top three automotive semiconductor suppliers, will showcase its latest innovative semiconductor solutions for automotive safety, navigation and infotainment at the 17th World Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Exhibition and Conference in Busan, South Korea, October 26-29, 2010. ITS is the world's largest exhibition and conference for intelligent transportation systems and services. STMicroelectronics supplies chips to all major automakers, and its automotive solution portfolio covers all key application areas of automotive semiconductors. Through close cooperation with major automakers and unswerving commitment to quality, STMicroelectronics has an unparalleled advanced technology platform and a deep understanding of the automotive market.

Advanced Car Safety

The EyeQ2 processor developed by STMicroelectronics and MobilEye is the most powerful processor dedicated to automotive vision systems. It has multiple cores and 7 video processing units built in, which can realize advanced driver assistance functions, such as collision avoidance technology, off-course warning system and pedestrian protection. STMicroelectronics and MobilEye are working with several market-leading automotive parts and components manufacturers to develop machine vision systems for world-class automakers. Currently, the first batch of cars equipped with machine vision systems are on the road. The EyeQ2 processor won the "2010 Automotive Safety Award" from BusinessCar magazine.

STMicroelectronics also showcased its latest automotive CMOS camera module for visual advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), which has higher sensitivity and dynamic range than similar products on the market. In the advanced safety display area, STMicroelectronics also showcased radar navigation advanced driver assistance system chip solutions, including 24/26GHz radar chips for close-range and side-mounted radar navigation advanced driver assistance systems and 77GHz radar chips for long-range forward-looking systems such as active cruise control systems (ACC) and automatic braking systems.

Infotainment

In the infotainment area, STMicroelectronics exhibited the most advanced multi-standard digital radio receiver chip (RF+baseband). This chipset is based on a digital radio baseband IC that integrates AM/FM phase diversity and dual DAB links on a single chip. The chipset is a cost-effective parallel operation solution that can seamlessly switch between traditional AM/FM and terrestrial digital radio (DAB+/DMB-A/DRM).

The HD Radio/Class D demonstrator showcases the complete digital link from broadcast to power amplifier. ST's HD Radio receiver chip supports all the latest features of this terrestrial digital broadcast technology, including simultaneous reception of audio and data from two independent broadcast channels. The power amplifier section provides energy-efficient and environmentally friendly digital Class D audio signals, in line with the latest automotive technology trends, such as start-stop systems and hybrid power.

Navigation and positioning

STMicroelectronics' Cartesio+ application processors have built-in GPS modules, combining excellent processing performance and positioning accuracy with a rich set of peripheral interfaces to achieve reliable and feature-rich multimedia car navigation systems. At the same time, the cutting-edge system-level chip can meet the most stringent automotive quality requirements.

Another product demonstration introduced STMicroelectronics' latest generation of single-chip stand-alone positioning receivers, Teseo II, the industry's most flexible and cost-effective portable and in-vehicle information processing system chip solution. Compatible with all major navigation standards, including GPS, GALILEO and GLONASS, STMicroelectronics' Teseo II has excellent positioning accuracy and indoor sensitivity.

According to research by market research firm Strategy Analytics, the overall automotive semiconductor content is expected to grow by more than 10% annually by 2016. Another market research firm Gartner's market forecast report divides automotive chips into automotive subsystems and believes that in the next five years, the semiconductor content in safety systems and in-vehicle multimedia entertainment systems will grow at a rate of 14% and 7% respectively (CAGR). STMicroelectronics has seized the market opportunity and is the beneficiary of these two market forecast reports.