Xilinx, Inova team on in-car video links

LONDON — Xilinx Inc. and Inova Semiconductors GmbH have introduced a communications transceiver design called Automotive Pixel Link (APIX) that can be deployed on the Xilinx Automotive (XA) family of Spartan-6 field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

Inova (Munich, Germany) is a fabless semiconductor company and now also an intellectual property licensor. The configurable core supports multiple video and communications links in a single device to transfer real-time video from two or more cameras or processing units to in-vehicle displays. The core targets both infotainment and driver assistance applications.

The APIX core can be adapted to application-specific bandwidth, video interface, and control signal requirements with adjustable driver characteristics, selectable operating modes, and spread spectrum-clocking capabilities. The APIX IP utilizes the multi-gigabit transceiver (MGT) hard blocks of the XA Spartan-6 FPGA to maximize performance and integration. It is compatible with the standalone APIX INAP125T24 (transmitter) or INAP125R24 (receiver) devices from Inova, including the Ashell automotive-specific communication protocol for secure data transmission over the full duplex sideband interface. The Ashell option can be switched off, if not required.

"Developed in collaboration with leading car makers and automotive electronic suppliers, our licensable APIX technology offers a solid, ruggedized connectivity standard that is qualified by eight out of ten major automotive OEMs worldwide and used today by numerous other semiconductor providers," said Thomas Rothhaupt, director of sales and marketing at Inova Semiconductors, in a statement. "By providing our production-proven interface technology for XA Spartan-6 FPGAs, we are adding to our APIX silicon ecosystem with the ability to utilize built-in FPGA MGTs for advanced systems with cameras and displays, such as head units or cluster displays with camera inputs."

Related links and articles:

www.inova-semiconductors.com

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