Dialog Semiconductor, aiming to reduce its dependence on slumping smartphone sales, rolled out a chip that can be programmed to perform many of the most fundamental analog, power and mixed signal functions in cars. The company said the configurable mixed signal integrated circuit (CMIC) is capable of replacing up to 30 components used in cars, adding to reliability while reducing area and cost.
The SLG46620-A can carry out many of the most common mixed-signal functions in systems ranging from door locks and windshield wipers to advanced driver assistance systems, such as lane-departure warnings and automated parallel parking, according to Dialog. The base die can be programmed to take over the functions of a broad range of AEC-Q100 ICs, including system reset ICs, sensor interfaces, LED controllers and power management ICs (PMICs).
"Automotive electronics designers will benefit greatly from the flexibility and low latency," Tom Sandoval, the company's senior vice president of automotive, said in a statement. Every custom, factory-programmed chip also boosts overall reliability by reducing the potential points of failure due to overheating or other malfunctions. The 6.5-mm by 6.4-mm component is the first in a family of products Dialog plans to deliver to the automotive market, Sandoval said.
The programmable chip's speed is also ideal for use in the car's functional safety systems, said Trang Nguyen, automotive marketing manager at Dialog. The chip makes sense of signals that flag potentially dangerous failures, including system overheating or component malfunctions. Other signals could come from cameras, radar or other sensors pointing out potentially unsafe situation, like the car straying out of its lane or another car entering its blind spot.
"The ability to detect and react to these inputs allows the system to bring the automobile back into a safe state in a short amount of time," Nguyen told Electronic Design.
Dialog has also targeted its programmable CMICs at the Internet of Things, which is where it has focused since losing Apple as its largest customer for its mobile power management ICs—more commonly called PMICs. Apple, which plans to start shipping custom iPhone PMICs in 2019, purchased part of the company's core PMIC business last year for $600 million. Despite the deal, Dialog is still supplying another component, the sub-PMIC, for Apple's iPhones.
Dialog also started supplying Apple with CMICs for other uses as part of the deal. The company's CMICs are an increasingly important part of its plan to reduce its dependence on Apple and double down on chips that can be slapped on everything from thermometers and headphones to factories and cars. Dialog started selling the programmable chips, which on average cost 30 cents each, after its acquisition of Silego Technology for over $270 million in 2017.
"CMICs are a very important category to Dialog’s future business as it is a fast growing segment and expands Dialog's current addressable market by over $1.4 billion," Nguyen said. More than 3.5 billion CMICs have shipped into smartphones, personal computers and compact Internet of Things devices since Silego introduced the category half a decade ago. Global sales of the programmable ICs surged 25% last year totaling more than $100 million.