Innovative automotive infotainment platform redefines user experience

Texas Instruments (TI) and Ford Motor Company have collaborated on an infotainment solution that enhances the way consumers interact with their vehicles. The new Ford SYNC 3, a communications and entertainment system, incorporates TI’s OMAP 5 processor, a member of the 'Jacinto' family of automotive processors, the WiLink 8Q platform, a single-chip combining high performance Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GNSS, as well as power management and FPD-Link III serializer / deserializer (SerDes) wired connectivity solutions. Together the TI devices provide improved performance for enhanced voice recognition and navigation, quality hands-free Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi enabled software updates and enhanced driver interactivity. TI's industry-leading technology enables Ford's SYNC 3 to be faster, more intuitive and easier to use for the driver, says the company - by leveraging the following: 1 - Performance leadership. As a member of TI’s “Jacinto” processor family, the OMAP 5 platform delivers unparalleled performance and improved user experience compared to other offerings available on the market today. Leveraging the latest generation ARM Cortex-A15 multicore CPUs and Imagination Technologies' POWERVR graphics cores, together with the highly-integrated WiLink 8Q wireless connectivity solution, Ford can offer a system with a snappy user interface and high quality multimedia in parallel to a premium connected car experience with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and accurate navigation data. To deliver high-definition video and audio to the colour touch screen, TI’s FPD-Link III SerDes wired connectivity chipset provides the high-speed connection. 2 - Premium graphics and voice recognition capabilities. The OMAP 5 processor’s superior 3D graphics acceleration creates a lifelike human machine interface (HMI) experience, boasting ultra-responsiveness for today's modern displays. A more conversational voice recognition experience is enabled through the use of high-performance, multicore ARM Cortex-A15s paired with TI’s optimized memory interconnect technology. 3 - Scalability. TI’s 'Jacinto' family of automotive infotainment processors provide scalability and flexibility to meet the needs of Fords’ SYNC 3 platform, designed to evolve features with drivers’ demands. With ample performance “under the hood,” Ford SYNC 3 leverages the WiLink 8Q’s Wi-Fi capabilities to enable consumers to seamlessly update software over the air, at home; more in line to processes consumers use with smartphones and tablets today. 4 - Proven automotive pedigree. TI has been providing integrated circuits to the automotive industry for more than 30 years and, with more than a decade focused on infotainment, provides Ford an automotive qualified platform. With the industry's broadest portfolio of wireless connectivity solutions, the WiLink 8Q family leverages TI's history of delivering high-performance, robust and easy-to-use integrated connectivity solutions including leading Bluetooth and Wi-Fi coexistence technology and cutting-edge GNSS location performance. TI’s complementary power management solutions provide the functions necessary to minimize system-level power consumption, and the display and high-speed video interconnect technology of the FPD-Link III SerDes chipsets offers a wide range of interfaces and resolutions for processors and displays. Commenting, Curt Moore, Automotive Processors general manager, TI, said: “When Ford selected TI as a strategic partner in the development of this innovative system, we saw this as an opportunity to work with an industry leader to leverage our long standing history in automotive. Through our expansive technical support we were able to quickly deliver a game-changing product Ford customers will use today.”