10th China EV100 Forum: Decade of Progress, Decade of Innovation

From March 15 to 17, the 10^th China EV100 Forum was held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the forum. Looking back on the previous decade, the new energy vehicle industry has made rapid progress; looking forward to the new decade, it is becoming a pioneer of innovation. How to continuously consolidate and expand the development advantages of new energy vehicles has become the focus of public attention from all walks of life.

Wang Shengyang, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of NOVOSENSE Microelectronics, was invited to attend the forum and delivered a speech on the topic of "Evolution Trends of Analog Chips in the Wave of Automotive Intelligence", sharing with the guests how NOVOSENSE's analog chip technology innovation empowers automotive intelligence.

More intelligent car body

Today's rapidly developing innovations in automotive applications is driven by the evolving electrical and electronic architectures of automobiles: from distributed to domain and then to centralized architectures. As systems become more integrated with higher power density, new requirements are defined for chips in them. Take body domain controllers as an example. NOVOSENSE can provide high- and low-side switching chips with multiple channels and lower on-resistance, as well as eFuse chips with intelligent power distribution curve control, which can meet the requirements of body domain controllers for more intelligent nodes, higher power density and intelligent power distribution.

On the other hand, for a large number of scenarios that require motor control, such as rearview mirror adjustment, air-conditioning wings, window lifts, electric seats, and electric tailgates, body domain controllers integrate the functions of traditional distributed ECU actuators, and systems put forward the requirements of hardware platform and function integration for motor driver chips. Also, in order to match a variety of loads, chips need to implement diagnosis and protection functions for multiple load types. NOVOSENSE offers a diverse selection of motor driver chips. The motor driver solutions integrate multi-channel drivers or IGBT/SiC, provide flexible software configurations to meet motor loads of different power levels, and support rich diagnostic and protection mechanisms, providing diverse and comprehensive design options for body motor control applications.

In addition, how to achieve automotive system communication with multi-node, high-speed, and high-stability in a smaller space and a more complex electromagnetic environment is also one of the key challenges for car body intelligence. NOVOSENSE's automotive-grade CAN SIC, NCA1462-Q1, can achieve a transmission rate of ≥8Mbps when connecting multiple nodes in a star network, and maintain good signal quality with high EMC performance with NOVOSENSE's patented ringing suppression function, helping to build a more robust in-vehicle communication system and promoting car body intelligence.

More personalized light interaction

From halogen headlights that "light up the road ahead" to through-type LED lights that are rhythmic and cool, and then to current complex multi-pixel displays for interactive expression, multi-pixel interactive headlights and smooth dynamic taillights are increasingly becoming standard features of smart cars nowadays, and the headlight lighting system further meets the need for personalized expression in addition to ensuring driving safety.

With the increasing number of LED beads, the LED driver for lighting up each bead needs to integrate more channels on a single chip to support higher current driving capability and better diagnosis and failure protection. The LED driver chip provided by NOVOSENSE integrates up to 24 channels on a single chip, supporting stronger current driving capability and complete circuit protection functions, which allows consumers to safely enjoy driving while achieving fully personalized expression with the help of colorful lights.

More efficient thermal management system

Different from the heat exchange method of traditional fuel vehicles based on internal combustion engines, new energy vehicles based on electric energy require a more intelligent and efficient thermal management system to coordinate and manage the temperature of the battery, engine, air conditioning, other related components, and system, so as to obtain a longer endurance and service life while ensuring the functional safety of vehicles.

Currently, thermal management systems are transitioning from distributed architectures to more efficient integrated architectures. System designs that use domain controllers with large computing power to control multiple BLDC motors at the same time are gaining popularity, while the design of replacing domain-controlled MCUs with intelligent BLDC pre-drivers integrating curing algorithms is gradually coming to the forefront due to cost reduction considerations. NOVOSENSE's highly integrated small motor driver SoC, NSUC1610, realizes efficient, real-time control of small motor applications by integrating an ARM core MCU, a 4-way half-bridge driver, and a LIN interface on a single chip. It is widely used in applications such as electronic expansion valves, AGS, and electronic air vents in thermal management systems. With a comprehensive product layout in sensors, signal chain and power management, NOVOSENSE provides one-stop solutions for intelligent, safe, and efficient thermal management systems.

Wang Shengyang remarked, "In the past year, we have witnessed the milestone of new energy vehicles' rapid development. Behind this is the efficient synergy of the entire industrial chain and supply chain. As an analog and mixed signal chip company, we notice that chip technology innovation plays an increasingly important role in the development of the new energy vehicle industry. We will leverage our strong local support capability and work with our customers closely to accelerate collaborative innovation, and continue to help consolidate and expand advantages in the development of new energy vehicles while providing more competitive chip products to the industry."