Over the past 20 years there has been a growing demand for hybrid and electric vehicles (HEV) which will only continue to heighten now the government have announced new environmental awareness and emission legislation which plans to ban diesel and petrol cars from 2040.
Automotive electronics are electronic systems used in road vehicles through: engine management, ignition, radio, carputers, telematics and in-car entertainment systems.
Different types of semiconductor ICs are used in a number of automotive products such as navigation control, infotainment systems and collision detection systems.
Integrated circuits continue to revolutionise the electronic industry, they are popular amongst engineers because they are small in size and can be used in various applications. IC’s are tiny electronic circuits built to perform a particular function made of active and passive components such as transistors, field-effect transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors.
Miniature active components (such as transistors and diodes) and passive components (such as capacitors and resistors) are built up on a thin substrate of semiconductor material (usually silicon). Integrated circuits can contain hundreds of thousands of individual transistors on a single piece of material the same size as a pea. Today IC’s are used in a wide range of applications, including cars, toasters and amusement park rides.
The demand for semiconductor integrated circuits will continue to increase as the demand for driverless cars and smart cars will generate greater demand for advanced sensors over the next four years.
Other components such as circuit breakers, dc disconnect switches, voltage surge suppressors, power distribution modules, sensors, and solenoids are also used in automotive vehicle electrical system designs.
Related Products
Our specialist products, components and designs can be found in a wide range of automotive applications around the world. We also partner with customers to design custom components and devices to suit their requirements.
