Anand Ramamoorthy, general manager of Freescale's infotainment, multimedia and telematics business, said the MPC5200B's single (PowerPC) core is more efficient and less expensive than multicore alternatives. The chip features a double precision floating point unit; a memory management unit-based architecture with DDR memory support; integrated PCI, ATA and USB buses; multiple serial channels; up to three I2S interfaces, and Ethernet support.

Because all applications execute on a single core, Ramamoorthy said that, for example, features like front-seat navigation can work in tandem with rear-seat entertainment. He added that the MPC5200B can support audio compression decode/encode, as well as video decode.

National Semiconductor offers the CP3SP33SMR for automotive telematics applications. The chip is said to perform key functions of the audio signal path for Bluetooth and non-Bluetooth hands-free systems, telematics platforms, and automotive multimedia gateways. It integrates a complete audio path as well as connectivity modules including CAN, UART and USB 2.0.

Fujitsu Microelectronics America focuses on the graphic display requirements of telematics systems with products like the MB86276 (Figure 4). “Design activity in the United States still centers on 2-D and below, including implementations that don't render graphics but take bitmaps that are stored in memory and place them on the screen as icons, such as menu indicators, arrows for direction or logos,” said Dan Landeck, product manager for graphics display/navigation controllers.

“Most of the design teams involved in these basic systems are realizing that they need more horsepower, and they are looking to step up to rendered graphics,” Landeck said. “Designers in Japan and Europe planning high-end systems are tending to keep the graphics processor separate from the display controller to optimize performance, and to use a secondary media processor for A/V codecs.” He added that fluctuating A/V requirements are providing significant opportunities for chip suppliers.

John Day writes regularly about automotive electronics and other technology topics. He holds a BA degree in liberal arts from Northeastern University and an MA in journalism from Penn State. He is based in Michigan and can be reached by e-mail at

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