Source: http://www.altera.com
Telematics systems are used to control automotive electronic systems and to display information about these systems efficiently for the driver and other passengers. The data displayed can include information from the navigation and GPS, maps, entertainment systems, mobile phones, and in some regions, road-tolling systems. See Figure 1.
Automotive designers developing telematics systems face the challenge of anticipating what systems to build and how those systems can be customized regionally and updated over time. Automotive manufacturers must also ensure that their products interface with a wide range of equipment, including after-market equipment that can be installed by customers.
Altera programmable logic addresses many of these challenges because it allows automobile manufacturers to develop a fully-flexible telematics system, even allowing upgrades after the car has been sold. Programmable logic provides upgradeability within the interfacing buses or as a complete bus-interfacing unit. It also allows interfacing between the various protocols used by different ASSPs.
Altera's low-cost Cyclone
series FPGAs are ideal for interfacing applications. You can use Altera's 32-bit Nios II embedded RISC processor in a Cyclone series FPGA to implement the telematics controller module. FPGAs allow customized interfacing between the various sub-system ASSPs available for this market, enabling multiple data sources.
Figure 1. Telematics/Entertainment System
Notes:
HMI = human machine interface
OSD = on screen display
With a highly efficient device architecture, Cyclone series FPGAs meet the performance and price-level requirements of cost-sensitive applications. Cyclone series FPGAs and Altera's suite of complementary products and solutions provide automotive designers with unparalleled functionality at prices that are competitive with ASICs.