Automotive-grade Cyclone® III FPGAs offer an unprecedented combination of low cost, functionality, and low power to meet next-generation automotive application requirements. Also available are a rich set of software, intellectual property (IP), reference designs, and development kits to accelerate product development and lower risk.
Challenges
Often automotive prototype and design cycles span several years. Designers and systems must be flexible to support emerging/changing consumer demands such as a new multimedia interface that may not have been popular during design concept but is a must-have feature at product launch. This flexibility requirement often rules out many ASIC or ASSP implementations. There is often the need to include varying feature sets to differentiate between affordable and luxury automobile models. There is also a plethora of automotive networking standards to contend with. The growing demand for in-cabin multimedia is pushing digital signal processing (DSP) and graphics processing requirements beyond the limits of traditional DSP devices. Product life cycles can be anywhere from a few years to decades with long aftermarket service requirements.
Solution
Automotive-grade Cyclone III FPGAs enable automotive OEMs to be flexible up to the last minute to accommodate feature needs that are changing faster than typical automotive design cycles. The flexibility of Cyclone III FPGAs enables you to create a single platform that you can use for multiple product lines. Pre-verified intellectual property (IP) is available for Cyclone III FPGAs to easily support all of the latest automotive networking standards such as controller area network (CAN), media-oriented system transport (MOST), local interconnect network (LIN), and FlexRay. Automotive products using Cyclone III FPGAs can also be updated in the field after the car is sold. Abundant multipliers and memory in Cyclone III FPGAs can be used to meet the growing appetite for high-quality video in infotainment features. Fast parallel configuration and automotive temperature support of up to 125°C (junction) enable Cyclone III FPGAs to meet stringent automotive system requirements.
Table 1 shows some of the most significant Cyclone III FPGA automotive application advantages.
| Table 1. Key Automotive Application Advantages of Cyclone III FPGAs | |
| Feature | Advantage |
|---|---|
| DSP Multipliers | Up to 126 on-chip embedded 18-bit x 18-bit multipliers at up to 260-MHz performance to process DSP-intensive algorithms. |
| Abundant Memory at Every Density | Up to 1.1 Mbits of on-chip memory and an increased memory-to-logic ratio for all Cyclone III family members to enable graphics processing to be done by smaller, low-cost devices. |
| Nios® II Embedded Soft Processor | The world’s most versatile 32-bit embedded soft processor, ideal for implementing a low-cost microcontroller and integrating system functionality. |
| Remote System Upgrades | Enables you to update firmware in the field after a car is sold. |
| Automotive Temperature and Quality | Support for -40°C to 125°C junction temperatures (automotive-grade versions), AEC-Q100, manufactured ISO/TS-16949-certified, and registered partners. |
| End-of-Life Protection | Altera keeps its devices in production longer, reducing obsolescence risk. |
Typical Navigation System
A navigation system is one of the key applications within the automotive space that utilizes a fair amount of graphics processing. The graphics processing complexity varies from a simple turn-by-turn (TBT) navigation to a more sophisticated 3D navigation system. Graphics processing requires the computation of numerous algorithms such as scaling, filtering, and alpha blending. Unlike digital signal processors or ASSPs, Cyclone® series FPGAs are better suited to perform these computationally-intensive algorithms because they can handle multiple instructions in a single clock cycle.
Figure 1 shows a low-cost graphics implementation in an Altera® Cyclone III FPGA. The video-in can be a BT.656 input (YUV 4:2:2), with a color space converter (CSC) to output RGB. The memory interfaces supported include: SDR, DDR, and DDR2. The Altera Nios® II 32-bit embedded processor is primarily used for graphics processing (line draw, frame creation) and provides additional control functions. Graphics hardware acceleration can include functions such as BitBlt (copy object into frame buffer, 2D-DMA transfer, possibly with blending). Alpha blending can have multiple channels. Cyclone III FPGAs are capable of supporting LVDS graphics output for remote display applications.
Figure 1. Typical Navigation System Block Diagram
Resources
Get to market faster, lower your product cost, and increase your flexibility over traditional design solutions with Cyclone III FPGAs. Altera and its partners offer a wide range of development kits, IP, and reference designs to provide complete solutions to overcome cost, performance, and flexibility limitations of stand-alone digital signal processing (DSP), ASSP, or ASIC solutions for driver information and entertainment and vehicle control systems. Table 2 provides links to just some of the resources available for designing automotive applications.
| Table 2. Automotive Design Resources | ||
| Category | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Development Kit Resources | ||
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Cyclone III Development Kits |
Altera and its partners offer a portfolio of development kits starting at just $199 to jump start Cyclone III designs. Each kit comes with everything you need to evaluate and design with Cyclone III FPGAs. Many of these kits can be ordered via Altera's online eStore or any Altera distribution partner. |
| Software and Intellectual Property Resources | ||
 |
Automotive Reference Designs | Reference designs for automotive system designs such as graphics processing and networking. |
| Automotive IP Functions | Library of IP cores for automotive applications. | |
| Memory Controllers | Memory controller IP from Altera and partners for DDR, DDR2, and other popular external memory device interfaces. | |
| Nios II Embedded Processor | The world's most versatile processor supported by easy-to-use development tools and a portfolio of FPGA development kits. | |
| Video-On-Demand Resources | ||
 |
Drive Cost-Sensitive Automotive Applications with Low-Cost FPGAs | 15-minute executive overview on the features and benefits of Cyclone III FPGAs for automotive applications (webcast video format). |
| White Papers | ||
 |
A Flexible Architecture to Drive Sharp Two-Way Viewing Angle and Standard LCDs (PDF) | An innovative architecture based on FPGAs and soft embedded processors that support both standard and two-way viewing LCD products. |
| Driving Flexibility Into Automotive Electronics Design (PDF) | Describes using custom soft microcontroller implementations in automotive applications to increase flexibility and remove the hidden costs associated with ASSP–based microcontroller solutions. | |
Related Links
- Automotive-Grade Device Handbook (PDF)
- View the Cyclone III Design Resource Center and Literature Center
- Learn more about Altera's automotive solutions
