About the customer:
Our customer is a US based Supplier of the connectivity systems for Automotive. This customer has partnered with many global automotive OEMs and is a trusted brand in the automotive industry.
Business Challenge:
Fault handling in a Media Hub is traditionally achieved with the help of a dedicated hardware. The customer wanted to replace this hardware component with software based fault handling.
This was needed in order to reduce the per unit cost of the Media Hub product.
The fault may occur due to several reasons of which temperature and voltage are primary. The challenge for the customer was to build software (firmware) that can process the data from the temperature and voltage sensors to take corresponding actions.
The customer’s development team also faced the following challenges:
- Very limited product re-engineering and development time.
- Configuration of several charging profiles.
- Seamless communication between the hub and the microcontroller had to be handled.
- Achieve data control and charging for the connected mobile devices.
Embitel’s Solution:
Customer’s Media Hub product has been developed on a widely popular STM – 8 Microcontroller Platform.
Media Hub, designed on Microchip Controller (STM 8), featured 2 USB Type C Ports. The mobile device could be connected to the hub via MirrorLink and CarPlay.
During this engagement, with the US – based Tier I Automotive Supplier, our product design team was tasked to equip the Media Hub with software driven fault handling capabilities.
- We developed the embedded software and ported it to the microcontroller to enable fault handling in the two Type-C USBs. It was also designed to control the media hub through the PCM (Port Control Module). We implemented I2C protocol to facilitate the communication between the Hub and the controller.
- The embedded system controller was designed to collect and process the data from the voltage monitoring sensors and temperature controller to assess the fault.
- On the detection of a fault, the hub was programmed to shut down for 2 seconds followed by a re-checking of the parameters.
Block Diagram for USB Media HUB Showing Connectivity with Different Modules.Following is the snap-shot of the design solution delivered by our embedded software development team:
- Configuration of drivers for USB Type-C.
- Generic Device Driver Development- I2C, ADC, PWM and I2C Bit Bang.
- Design, development and integration of the Fault handling software algorithms.
- Configuration of Microchip Hub for charging profile.
- Custom Controller Programming.
The Solution Supported Following Features:
- Mirror Link: To Mirror any phone’s screen on to the In-vehicle Infotainment or Car Head-Up display unit.
- CarPlay- Lets the user connect Apple devices (iPhone, IPad etc.).
- Voltage Monitoring of the port.
- HSD port protection for Type-C USB.
- Dynamic Temperature Controller (Sensors).
- Supports Power devices.
Tools and Technologies Used:
- CANTATA- Unit Testing.
- STVD- The IDE for development.
- Logic Analyzer- Functional Testing.
- STM Debugger.
