Fujitsu Microelectronics has recently published a case study describing how it has integrated Inova Semiconductor’s APIX® high-speed serial interface into its graphics display controllers (GDCs). Fujitsu currently has three automotive GDCs with integrated APIX:
- The MB86R02 “Jade-D” SoC, which uses an ARM 926 processor, a Fujitsu MB86296 “Coral-PA,” graphics controller, two APIX channels, a TFT timing controller (TCON) and other automotive peripherals.
- The MB88F332 “Indigo”, which combines an APIX deserializer, APIX Remote Hander (ARH) and APIX Automotive Shell, a sprite engine, a TCON, and other automotive peripherals
- The 32-bit Fujitsu RISC microcontroller MB91F467, which is a 32-bit Fujitsu RISC (FR) microcontroller (MCU) with embedded APIX.
This APIX high speed serial link interface allows both display and command and control data to be passed back and forth. It is claimed to significantly simplify the wiring required to support a remote TFT display. Strategy Analytics expects significant growth in in-vehicle displays, and forecasts that in excess of 50 million full color displays will be fitted to light vehicles by 2015. One strength of the Fujitsu / Inova tie-up is the range of solutions that can be supported, from entry-level clusters to higher-end variants with multiple, independent displays. The high degree of integration allows for flexible architectures. For example, in the low-end cluster shown below, no MCU or software is required in the cluster itself, nor is a CAN link to the cluster necessary. The controlling MCU or SoC can be located elsewhere and communicate to the Indigo chip over APIX.
- The MB86R02 “Jade-D” SoC, which uses an ARM 926 processor, a Fujitsu MB86296 “Coral-PA,” graphics controller, two APIX channels, a TFT timing controller (TCON) and other automotive peripherals.
- The MB88F332 “Indigo”, which combines an APIX deserializer, APIX Remote Hander (ARH) and APIX Automotive Shell, a sprite engine, a TCON, and other automotive peripherals
- The 32-bit Fujitsu RISC microcontroller MB91F467, which is a 32-bit Fujitsu RISC (FR) microcontroller (MCU) with embedded APIX.
This APIX high speed serial link interface allows both display and command and control data to be passed back and forth. It is claimed to significantly simplify the wiring required to support a remote TFT display. Strategy Analytics expects significant growth in in-vehicle displays, and forecasts that in excess of 50 million full color displays will be fitted to light vehicles by 2015. One strength of the Fujitsu / Inova tie-up is the range of solutions that can be supported, from entry-level clusters to higher-end variants with multiple, independent displays. The high degree of integration allows for flexible architectures. For example, in the low-end cluster shown below, no MCU or software is required in the cluster itself, nor is a CAN link to the cluster necessary. The controlling MCU or SoC can be located elsewhere and communicate to the Indigo chip over APIX. Changing to a higher-end cluster requires only a larger, higher-resolution panel and a change in the remote module driving the panel. Fujitsu claims that being able to easily swap panels and modules in this way increases flexibility and modularity. In Strategy Analytics’ opinion, this combination of APIX data and command transfer and Fujitsu display controllers offers an intriguing and highly differentiated alternative architecture. By enabling the controller to be off-cluster, and thus have a cluster free of application software, the creation of multiple display configuration variants should theoretically become easier and lower-cost for OEMs and Tier Ones. Longer term, the way in which image data is moved around the car will be a key battleground. APIX is not a MOST replacement, but rather concentrates on simplifying the point-to-point controller-to-display connection. MOST itself, although currently dominant in high-end vehicles, faces a potential future challenge from the Ethernet-based AVnu, which founding member Harman sees as its likely successor.