Xilinx Automotive In-Vehicle Infotainment Companion Chip Solution

Xilinx Automotive adds flexible connectivity to the Low-Power Intel® In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) Reference Design targeted at high-end automotive head units.  The joint development effort with Intel couples the inherent flexibility and built-in connectivity capabilities of the XA Spartan®-3E FPGA with the high performance, low power processing and surrounding ecosystem of the Intel Atom™ processor Z530 and Intel System Controller Hub US15W.

Why use the Xilinx Companion Chip for Infotainment Solutions?

Xilinx along with Intel delivers levels of performance, scalability, and flexibility not previously available on an open infotainment platform (OIP) while accelerating system development.  This collaboration addresses the growing demand for digital information and entertainment in-vehicle on par with what consumers have come to expect in the home or office, while maintaining the high quality and reliability standards of the automotive industry.

Figure 1

The low-power Intel IVI reference design utilizes XA Spartan-3E FPGAs to extend the platform’s flexibility and integrate many automotive-specific functions, including early access to video and MOST® network connectivity.

Customize Your Infotainment Application with Automotive Solutions

Using the FPGA, designers can build upon the OIP by producing a customized companion chip for peripheral extension to the Intel system controller hub US15W. A standard adaptation guide allows the user to add (or remove) peripherals in the FPGA and scale the device density for a cost optimized solution.  The available FPGA-based reference design incorporates several key functions including:

• High Speed UART connectivity
• Video frame grabber input for camera connectivity
• SD 2.0 HOST IP including support for higher capacity SDHC cards (SD High Capacity)
• MOST connectivity through both MediaLB (MLB) interface or Xilinx MOST NIC LogiCORE™ IP
• Additional I2C and I2S

Additionally, software drivers for all peripherals in the FPGA reference design are available to allow rapid system development. Support for Wind River Linux is available today and support for other leading automotive operating systems is under development.

• Low-Power Intel In-Vehicle Infotainment Reference Design product brief  (PDF)
• Intel EcoSystem Solutions brochure (PDF)

For more information, contact your Xilinx sales representative.