Achievable current density of low voltage power MOSFET components has increased signi cantly over the past years Those devices are mainly used in converters for automotive auxiliary drives or renewable energy The paper outlines state of the art technology and gives an outlook on further development taking into account the particular requirements of the aforementioned demanding applications Intr...

This paper presents a warranty forecasting method based on stochastic simulation of expected product warranty returns. This methodology is presented in the context of a high-volume product industry and has a specific application to automotive electronics. The warranty prediction model is based on a piecewise application of Weibull and exponential distributions, having three parameters, which ar...

T he past four decades have witnessed an exponential increase in the number and sophistication of electronic systems in vehicles. Today, the cost of electronics in luxury vehicles can amount to more than 23 percent of the total manufacturing cost. Analysts estimate that more than 80 percent of all automotive innovation now stems from electronics. To gain an appreciation of the sea change in the...

The elimination of lead in electronic equipment due to governmental regulations (European Union End of Life Vehicle Directive and European Union Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) has increased the risk of electrical shorting due to the formation of tin whiskers in electronic products. Tin whiskers are hair-like tin structures that grow sporadically on surfaces coated with tin. Whis...

Within the automotive industry model-based specification techniques are the basis for the definition of seamless design processes allowing the complete, the consistent, and the unambiguous specification of software and hardware parts of car specific networks of control units. For a successful application, those modeling approaches have to give methodical support for adequately capturing the arc...

The article deals with the optimal design of ground vehicles and their subsystems, with particular reference to ‘active’ safety and comfort. A review of state-of-the-art optimization methods for solving vehicle system design problems, including the integration of electronic controls, is given, thus further encouraging the use of such methods as standard tools for automotive engineers. Particula...

Adaptive cruise control systems are typical examples of software-based, embedded systems in automotive electronics. To ensure an eecient development process of such systems, appropriate techniques for the speciication and validation have to be applied. In particular, notations and techniques for a precise and executable speciication of the system and the software have to be provided. In our tal...

[Abstract] The paper deals with the optimal design of road vehicles and their subsystems. The highly competitive nature of the automotive industry demands constant product innovation and reduction in product development both in time and cost while satisfying performance and legal requirements. Optimization procedures provide a scientific approach to automatically determine the most efficient de...

Many products are manufactured in networks of firms linked by transactions, but comparatively little is known about how or why such transaction networks differ. This paper investigates the transaction networks of two large sectors in Japan at a single point in time. In characterizing these networks, our primary measure is “hierarchy,” defined as the degree to which transactions flow in one dire...

Keynote: The Future of Power Electronics and the Impending Challenges to Metrology Thomas Neyer Fellow, High-Voltage Device and Technology Development, Fairchild Semiconductor Power electronics has successfully established its foothold in most domestic, industrial and automotive applications like power supplies, household machines, air conditioners, power generation and transmission units, all ...