Collaboration targets automotive infotainment and piloted driving solutions

Maxim Integrated Products has collaborated with NVIDIA to enable the analog blocks on automotive infotainment and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for NVIDIA’s DRIVE CX (cockpit) and PX (piloted driving) platforms. Growing demand for technology in mobile applications has changed how consumers interact with each other and the world around them. This heightened expectation for advanced user experience is also influencing how automakers architect their infotainment systems to stay competitive with technology trends. To address concerns raised about the impact that these interactive technologies will have on driver distraction, automakers have increased their focus on safety requirements within entertainment platforms. This balance between infotainment and ADAS is one of the foremost challenges facing today’s automotive ecosystem. To meet this safety-in-entertainment challenge, NVIDIA has developed complex automotive system-on-chips (SoCs) which are digital supercomputers capable of driving multiple functions with unique parallel processing architecture and large computing power. Maxim leverages its experience in automotive and its wide product portfolio to address three key analog IC factors that cannot be neglected in any system-level design: heat, size, and efficiency. Maxim provides software-compatible, low-quiescent-current, and highly-integrated automotive-grade power-management functionality for the NVIDIA visual computing module (VCM). This power solution meets the performance needs of the DRIVE CX and PX platforms. The NVIDIA VCM modular platform gives automakers a fast and easy way to integrate the most recent automotive-grade Tegra processors in vehicles. Maxim’s gigabit multimedia serial link (GMSL) solutions provide high-speed data transfer between camera inputs and the NVIDIA SoC, and an optional link via an add-in card from the head unit of an infotainment platform to the display. The MAX9286, a quad-channel 1.5Gbps deserializer in Maxim’s GMSL portfolio, is the first solution on the market capable of synchronizing video streams from four cameras while simultaneously powering each camera over the same coax cable. These 'aggregator' and 'power-over-coax' features are utilized on the NVIDIA DRIVE PX to simplify design for ADAS systems with up to 12 simultaneous camera inputs, says the company. “Maxim develops the high-performance analog ecosystem required to drive NVIDIA’s supercomputer platform,” said Kent Robinett, managing director of automotive sales and marketing, Maxim. “Our collaboration enables new possibilities for infotainment and ADAS markets within automotive, and is a platform for ongoing developments in automotive-grade USB, power management, high-speed video transfer, precision MEMS, and wireless radio tuner RF-to-Bits solutions.” Ross Jatou, vice president of automotive hardware engineering, NVIDIA, added: “Maxim’s innovative analog solutions bring unique capabilities to the automobile of the future.”