Semiconductor Components Needs for Future Automotive Electronic Systems

Automotive electronics technology has been so far developed mainly to replace electromechanical devices or to implement more complex control functions than those performed by conventional actuators or regulators. The current trends towards extensive structural and functional system integration will lead the way to the implementation of totally new functions as well to an overall optimization of the existing ones. As a result electronics will play in the vehicle the same pervasive and innovative role that has dramatically changed the way of using many established products and will bring to the automotive technology a wide range of new functional requirements for the semiconductor components to be used in future cars.