Date: 19/03/2012

60V FlexRay transceivers from NXP suppporting 48V power bus in vehicles

NXP Semiconductors has made available a new family of FlexRay transceivers that supports the automotive industry move towards a 48V board net in future vehicles.

At the 15th Automobil-Elektronik Congress in Germany in 2011, BMW, Audi, Daimler, Porsche, and Volkswagen had jointly announced their decision to push for a rapid implementation of 48V systems in the short or medium term. At the same time they appealed to semiconductors companies to actively support their move. Giuseppe Mascolino, BMW, head of E/E architecture, system functions, software development, and e-mobility, explains: "As more high-power devices are being added to vehicles it becomes increasingly difficult to drive these functions out of a 12V supply, both from a technical and economic point of view. This is why BMW and other major car manufacturers decided to add a second system of 48 Volts into future car models to supplement the existing 12V board net. This will facilitate easy and cost-efficient integration of high-power components in the future and will enable new innovative functions."

Kurt Sievers, Executive Vice President and General Manager of NXP's automotive business says: "As the leading global supplier of semiconductors for in-vehicle networking, we are constantly looking for ways to drive innovation within the automotive industry. Our existing in-vehicle networking portfolio and our new family of 60V FlexRay transceivers clearly prove this, as they enable the advancement of a whole new power domain within in-vehicle networking. With CAN and FlexRay transceivers now available from NXP to support 48V systems, car manufacturers can start designing applications for the cars of the future today."

Availability: The new family of 60V FlexRay transceivers comprises the following devices:
TJA1081B will be available from Q2 2012
TJA1083 will be released in 2012