ARTERY Introduces Its First Automotive-Grade MCU to Power Next-Generation Vehicles

HSINCHU, Oct. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the AEC standard, ARTERY Technology launched its first automotive-grade microcontroller AT32A403A in August this year, marking its successful penetration into the automotive MCU market. This series has been certified according to automotive standard AEC-Q100 Grade 2, and passed qualification tests including accelerated environmental stress test, accelerated lifetime simulation test, package assembly integrity test and electrical verification test.

MCUs Have Become the Automotive Industry's New Focus

The automotive industry has adopted the new acronym CASE to describe the future vehicles: Connectivity, Autonomous, Sharing/Subscription, and Electrification. Under the framework of the CASE trend, "Software-Defined Vehicles" is the only way to change the ecology of today's automotive industry. The core value of the industry will shift from traditional machinery to electronics and software. Semiconductor automotive electronics ushers in huge growth, and microcontroller chips play a vital strategic role in future vehicles to meet higher performance requirements and support more secure software updates.

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, the global automotive microcontroller market size is about $6.42 billion in 2022, and is expected to reach $9.35 billion by 2028, with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 6.5% from 2023 to 2028. The MCU is an indispensable core component of automotive electronics, and the rapid development of the industry highlights the strong market demand for automotive MCUs.

Automotive Reliability Qualification

Unlike general consumer electronic chips that focus on performance, automotive-grade chips, with the top priority of ensuring driving safety must pass a whole set of qualification tests for automotive applications according to the industry standard specification developed by AEC (Automotive Electronics Council) formed by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors (GM) in 1994.

ARTERY's First Automotive Grade MCU: AT34A403A

AT32A403A series is based on ARM® 32-bit Cortex®-M4 core that embeds up to 1 MB Flash memory and 224 KB SRAM, operating at a frequency of up to 200 MHz. AT32A403A devices is powered by 2.6-3.6V voltage and can operate in a wide operating temperature range from -40 to 105℃, suitable for most automotive application environments, and meets the high computing power, high stability, and high reliability requirements of automotive electronics.

AT32A403A integrates rich peripherals to enhance the connectivity of diverse communication interfaces. It features 8x UARTs, 4x SPIs, 3x I²Cs, 2x I²Ss, 2x SDIOs, XMC, 2x CANs, SPIM, USB 2.0 FS interface supporting Xtal-less mode, 8x 16-bit general-purpose timers, 2x 32-bit general-purpose timers, 2x 16-bit motor control PWM advanced timers with dead-time generator and emergency brake, 2x 16-bit basic timers to drive DACs, 3x 12-bit 2 Msps A/D converters with up to 16 channels. Almost all GPIO ports are 5V tolerant, and they can be used for a variety of purposes such as port remapping. The AT32A403A series is especially suitable for IoT applications, leading to higher reliability and lower cost in terminal products.

Intelligent Application of Automotive MCUs

Along with the development of smart cars, on-board displays have been digitalized to realize human-vehicle interaction with gesture controls and even voice controls, instead of traditional mechanical buttons. With powerful on-chip resources, higher integration, cost-effectiveness, and safety functions adhering to automotive-grade MCU standards, the AT32A403A series is considered the preferred choice for automotive applications such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), automotive body control, anti-theft security devices, digital dashboard, automotive motor power supplies, automotive lighting, and automotive battery management system (BMS). It can even be applied to the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), Shy Tech and AR HUD to enrich audio-visual experience and intelligent human-machine interaction.

Artery Technology is committed to creating automotive grade MCUs that are in line with the development trend of intelligence and digitalization and meet high performance and high safety standards. AT32A403A currently supplies a total of 12 models in 4 different packages and 3 kinds of Flash memory architecture to create a highly reliable automotive MCU solutions and accelerate the popularization of intelligent new energy vehicles. ARTERY will also continue to expand the automotive microcontroller market, and provide customers with better services and richer products.