The Contribution of Semiconductors to Future Automotive Electronics

During the last two decades, electronics and semiconductor technology have made a major impact on the functionality of automotive systems. From an early substitution of mechanical switches by single transistors, todays systems like antiskid braking or automatic transmission consist of complex VLSI circuits and apply many different semiconductor technologies. Future cars will act as intelligent transportation and information systems with high demand for application specific circuits and optimized processes. The ongoing progress in semiconductor technologies together with high level design methodologies for dedicated circuits will lead to the next generation of automotive electronics.