A closer look at Atmel’s vehicle portfolio

Earlier this morning, Atmel announced the expansion of an already formidable automotive maXTouch lineup with the mXT336S (optimized for 7-inch touchscreens) and mXT224S (targeted at smaller touchscreens and tablets).

In addition to touchscreens, Atmel boasts an extensive automotive ecosystem that meets strict quality demands, helping to make vehicles more safe and affordable. Primary solutions include battery management (Li-ion), car access, radio, networking, motor control systems and microcontrollers.

As previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel’s versatile AVR microcontrollers deliver power, performance and flexibility – making them appropriate for a wide range of automotive applications.

So what differentiates AVR microcontrollers from the competition in the automotive sphere? Well, according to an engineering rep, Atmel offers functionality and high temperature capabilities in its vehicle-oriented chip designs.

“Plus, complete system-in-package (SIP) solutions integrate components such as an AVR microcontroller, LIN and CAN interfaces, voltage regulator, watchdog, floating point unit (FPU), FlashVault code protection, high-speed Ethernet and USB with OTG connectivity in a single cost-effective package,” the engineering rep told Bits & Pieces. “In fact, Atmel’s highly integrated designs can reduce system costs by up to 60 percent, while saving time in development, integration and prototyping.”

Key specs include:

• High performance – Executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, Atmel’s 8-bit automotive AVR MCUs achieve throughputs approaching 1 MIPS per MHz, balancing power consumption with processing speed.
• Code protection – Atmel FlashVault allows devs to partially program and lock flash memory for secure on-chip storage. Code stored in FlashVault will execute as normal, but cannot be read, copied or debugged. It is also capable of carrying software such as math libraries or encryption algorithms to potentially untrustworthy environments where the rest of the source code can be developed and debugged.
• Built-in voltage protection – The on-chip voltage regulator with short-circuit monitoring interface featured in several 8-bit microcontrollers ensures reliable operation and extends the useful life of the device and the product it controls.
• Optimized power efficiency – Thanks to more than a decade of research, Atmel picoPower technology reduces microcontroller power usage in both sleep and active mode to achieve the industry’s lowest power consumption numbers.

Interested in learning more? Additional information about Atmel’s expansive automotive portfolio is available here and here.

Atmel expands maXTouch auto lineup

Atmel has rolled out a new maXTouch family to facilitate single-layer shieldless designs in automotive center stacks, navigation systems, radio interfaces and rear seat entertainment platforms.

“The mXT336S is optimized for 7-inch touchscreens, while the mXT224S targets smaller touchscreens and tablets,” said Stephan Thaler, Atmel Marketing Director for Automotive Touch Products. “Both are AEC-Q100-compliant and fully automotive qualified.”

Dedicated firmware and a high signal-to-noise ratio makes these devices ideally suited for very noisy environments. Since only a high signal-to-noise ratio enables detection of touches with a “gloved” finger, the devices provide full support for gloved hand operation on automotive touchscreens.

As Thaler notes, conventional touch controllers are unable to handle LCD noise, so an additional shield layer is typically required to prevent noise coupling.

“However, thanks to the [optimized] noise handling and filtering capabilities of our new automotive- qualified maXTouch devices, shields are no longer required, and designers can use single-layer sensors instead of dual or triple layers, which are typical in many current applications,” he explained.

“By eliminating an additional layer, designers have a thinner stack which reduces the overall system complexity, lowering the overall cost and power consumption, which results in higher yields during production.”

Indeed, the mXT336S/mXT224S devices support touch detection, up to 10 simultaneous touches, touch size reporting, single- and dual-touch gesture calculation, communication of X/Y positions, gesture support and the ability to eliminate unintended touches. Users can also perform multi-touch gestures (pinch, stretch, etc.), while unintended touches are rejected, such as a resting hand on the screen. Simply put, the above-mentioned key features help bring the smartphone experience into contemporary cars.

Samples of the automotive-qualified mXT336S and mXT224S touch controllers are currently available in TQFP64 packages, while demo kits for both devices can also be ordered to support design-in and shorten time-to-market.