MEMS-based precision timing solutions are transforming the automotive industry by providing resilient, high-stability, low-power timing references for demanding in-vehicle applications. Developers have relied on quartz-based timing devices for decades until the recent advent of MEMS-based alternatives. Here are four ways in which MEMS precision timing is fueling automotive innovation while providing a superior alternative to quartz technology.
#1: Enabling faster in-vehicle interfaces
Advances in automated driving technologies are driving increasing numbers of sensors deployed in vehicles, providing data streams up to 20TB per hour for automated driving systems. This data flow requires numerous high-speed interfaces such as PCI-Express, 10GB Ethernet, FPD-Link, or MIPI A-PHY.
MEMS precision timing solutions play a critical role in ensuring these interfaces function at their highest potential. By reducing jitter and delivering high-performance clocking, clocks and oscillators based on MEMS technology enable faster data transfer, improve system performance, and enhance the overall in-vehicle experience.
#2: Enabling better connectivity to the outside world
Vehicles today are not just transportation mediums but interconnected mobile devices that communicate with the outside world, from vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication to vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X). MEMS-based timing components are robust and resistant to the environmental stresses encountered in vehicle operation such as shock, vibration, and temperature fluctuations. As MEMS timing devices can reach the ±0.1ppm frequency stability required by the V2X standard, they are a key element enabling advanced communications technologies in today’s vehicles.
#3: Improving reliability and safety metrics
MEMS precision timing solutions not only ensure the smooth operation of electronic systems within vehicles but also play a vital role in maintaining safety. Standards such as ISO 26262, an international functional safety standard defining the development of electronic systems in road vehicles, have been created for this purpose. MEMS timing contributes to the high reliability of digital components within electronic systems, ensuring they perform accurately and safely under different operating conditions. The high reliability of MEMS timing devices helps improve system-level safety metrics for automotive applications. Oscillators are typically single points of failure. By using MEMS oscillators, a better single point of failure metric (SPFM) is achieved. In addition, MEMS timing enables a lower system-level probability metric of hardware failures (PMHF).
#4: Making the supply chain more resilient
In an industry where supply chain disruptions can cause significant issues, the ability to create a more resilient supply chain is crucial. MEMS precision timing solutions leverage the benefits of silicon-based technology. Both MEMS wafers and CMOS wafers used in manufacturing MEMS precision timing devices are sourced from scalable suppliers. Multiple Assembly and Test vendors ensure no bottleneck exists within the production flow. MEMS timing devices are ideally suited to respond to surges in demand with short lead times.
MEMS—The driving force behind automotive innovation
MEMS technology is the unsung hero of the automotive industry’s transformation. Automotive system designs are steadily transitioning from quartz to more reliable and robust MEMS-based timing technology. By enabling faster in-vehicle interfaces, improving connectivity and communications, enhancing reliability and safety, and providing greater supply chain agility, MEMS precision timing solutions are driving the future of automotive innovation.