"IVI and HMI performance is improving, and the importance of graphic MCUs is increasing."

MCU systems with built-in graphics engines offer a price advantage over SoCs.
Infineon's T2G graphics engine, VRAM, and video input/output performance are improved.

[Editor's Note] As cars become more digitized, they are expected to become cultural and living spaces, as well as residential and office spaces. To capitalize on this trend, automakers are developing various devices to enhance the in-car experience, with displays and graphics emerging as key areas of development. Graphics MCUs, which enable graphics on displays, are used in applications such as HUDs and digital side mirrors and are considered more price-competitive than SoCs. Our magazine met with Ki-Yoon Park, Manager at Infineon Technologies Korea, to discuss automotive component trends and graphic MCUs.

■ What are the future automotive trends that the industry is paying attention to?

One of the major trends in future automobiles is "digitization." Many components within vehicles are becoming electrified, transforming from a collection of mechanical components to a collection of various electronic devices.

Automobiles are evolving into high-performance computers, to the point where they are now being called "computers on wheels." The vehicle's power source has shifted from engines to electric motors, and electronic components are being incorporated into brakes and chassis systems.

The same goes for HMI (Human Machine Interface), including IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment). Devices previously operated with simple buttons are now displayed graphically on displays and can be operated via touchscreens.

The instrument panel, which used to display only basic information using needles and 7-segment LEDs, now displays a wider variety of information visually and more dynamically through graphics. It is expected that more displays and graphics will be added to vehicles.

■ Please explain in detail what technologies Infineon is developing to keep up with trends.

Infineon has the TRAVEO™ T2G Instrument Cluster, a product for displaying graphics on the growing number of displays in vehicles.

A graphics engine is installed within the MCU product to process the desired graphic data and display it on the display.

Compared to T1G (Traveo™ I, 1st Generation), T2G (Traveo™ II, 2nd Generation) has improved performance in all aspects, including the core, graphics engine, video RAM (VRAM), video input/output, and external memory interface.

This product can be applied to applications such as digital instrument panels, head-up displays (HUD), air conditioning control units, digital side mirrors, and matrix LED headlamps.

■ What are the advantages of Infineon's graphic MCU?

If a system is configured using an MCU with a built-in graphics engine, it can be price competitive in terms of BOM compared to a system built using an SoC.

It can also be designed in a smaller space and support faster boot times.

For graphics applications that require fast booting and design on small board sizes, we believe the TRAVEO™ T2G Instrument Cluster product will be a suitable solution.>
■ Please explain how Infineon's TRAVEO™ T2G Instrument Cluster product is used in HUDs, air conditioning control devices, etc.

Saves image files such as icons, numbers, and arrows for composing graphics in external or internal memory.

The screen layer (graphic layer) that you want to express is composed by combining the saved data and graphics that can be created with the graphic engine, and each layer is combined to create one screen, which is then output through the video input/output interface (RGB, FPD-Link).

The output graphic data can be displayed on a display and applied to various applications such as HUD and air conditioning control devices.

■ Finally, please say a word to the readers.

TRAVEO™ products can be applied to a variety of applications that utilize graphics, such as matrix LED headlamps that operate on the same principle as projectors, as well as graphic expressions on displays.

We hope that TRAVEO™ T2G Instrument Cluster will be helpful in developing future graphic applications, and we appreciate your interest.