Product category:
Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Freescale Semiconductor | Subject: MPXY8020A
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 23 May 2003
Integrated sensor is key to tyre
pressure system
The new MPXY8020A pressure sensor has the potential to help reduce blowouts, extend tyre life and improve petrol consumption.
The new MPXY8020A pressure sensor has the potential to help reduce blowouts, extend tyre life and improve petrol consumption The MPXY8020A helps drivers maintain proper tyre pressure by notifying them when tyre pressure is not at the optimal pressure level
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Mar 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Motorola drives for driver information systems
Motorola is developing a family of microcontrollers for the driver information systems (DIS) market.
MCU and DSP features combine in Flash hybrids
The 56F826 and 56F827 are Motorola's newest Flash-based hybrid controllers.
Proper tyre inflation reduces tread wear (prolonging tyre life) and improves gas mileage.
When a tyre is underinflated, the surface area that contacts the road increases and causes more friction.
This increases tread wear and potentially increases the amount of petrol used.
Further reading
DSP56800 design software comes for free
Motorola is offering a complimentary licence of the award-winning Metrowerks CodeWarrior for DSP56800 integrated development environment (IDE) with the purchase of a DSP56800 evaluation module.
Best-in-class claim for new DragonBalls
Motorola claims its two new DragonBall microprocessor products - DragonBall MX1 and DragonBall Super VZ - provide best-in-class handheld performance and battery life.
Long-life Flash rivals EEPROM for microcontrollers
The latest Flash MCUs from Motorola offer typically 100,000 write/erase cycles and 50-year data retention.
The MPXY8020A represents a significant step in Motorola's tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) strategy.
The sensor is available with microcontrollers and a radio frequency (RF) communication device, offering a comprehensive Motorola chipset for automotive engineers and helping automotive manufacturers address safety demands that have emerged in recent years.
Government agencies, advocacy groups, technology consortia, electronics vendors and automotive OEMs have joined a global movement to increase automobile occupant safety.
For example, the US Congress passed the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act of 2000, which mandated that automotive manufacturers install tyre pressure monitoring systems within a three-year window from 1st November 2003 to 31st October 2006.
"As the automotive market leader in the semiconductor industry, Motorola is positioned well to supply the MPXY8020A sensor and chipset to help automotive engineers comply with approaching legislative deadlines in the United States", said Bruce Simmon of Strategy Analytics.
"In addition to compliance for manufacturers, the MPXY8020A can make a real impact, saving hundreds of lives and countless dollars by reducing blowouts, vehicle handling and hydroplaning".
The enabling technology behind tyre pressure monitoring is pressure sensing, which measures a tyre's inflation level.
To "talk" to the vehicle's dashboard, the sensors send signals through accompanying microcontrollers and analogue ICs that work together as a chipset.
The MPXY8020A sensor is used in remote sensing modules mounted onto valve stems or wheel wells.
It consumes little power, uses little board space and is available as a four-part chipset that includes microcontrollers and RF communication.
The chipset features: a remote sensing module that houses the MPXY8020A sensor and an MC68HC908RF2 8bit Flash MCU (the MCU package also contains an RF transmitter); and an MC9S12DP256 16bit Flash MCU that powers the receiver module with an integrated MC33591 RF receiver, demodulator and decoder receiving the signal (this device typically sits in the dashboard of the car).
Tyre pressure monitoring occurs in two ways: direct or indirect.
Motorola's MPXY8020A sensor and chipset offer direct tyre pressure monitoring.
According to its findings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which administers the US Transportation Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act, currently believes direct tyre pressure monitoring is the more desirable form of tyre pressure monitoring and better satisfies US Government regulations.
The direct approach includes a tyre pressure sensor at each wheel.
These sensors transmit pressure and temperature information to a receiver and usually are attached to the tyre's inflation valve.
Indirect monitoring does not use tyre pressure sensors but instead relies on the wheel speed sensors in an antilock brake system (ABS) to detect and compare differences in the rotational speed of a vehicle's wheels.
A recent report - "Automotive silicon sensor market" - by Strategy Analytics cites that growth for tyre pressure monitoring will likely be driven by a combination of consumer demand for better automobile safety; vehicle manufacturer demand to avoid tyre failures in "high-value vehicles" (sports cars, minivans and SUVs); and legislation in the USA.
The firm projects the market for silicon-based sensors in automotive applications will grow to US $6 billion by 2010.
Motorola's mixed-signal sensor IC uses a CMOS die and "on-chip power management" in which essential pieces of the power management system (standby mode, temperature measurement, pressure measurement and output read mode) are integrated onto the same piece of silicon as the sensors.
By using the same receiver for the tyre pressure monitoring system and the RKE system, fewer components must be incorporated onto a board and in the vehicle.
This reduces board space and ultimately development costs.
Samples of the new MPXY8020A TPM sensor device and chipset are available now.
Production volumes are currently available.
Pricing is volume-based and contingent on customer specifications.
The MPXY8020A's suggested list price per unit in 10,000-piece quantities is US $5.25.
In 10,000-piece quantities, the MC68HC908RF 8-bit Flash MCU, the MC9S12DP256 16bit Flash MCU and the MC33591 integrated RF receiver are priced at $2.90, $14.08 and $1.99, respectively.
• Freescale Semiconductor: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
