Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) has developed a model-based development (MBD) simulation method that reduces the time it takes to verify automotive semiconductors by 90%. Toshiba’s automotive semiconductors enable automotive equipment engineers to swiftly test designs, reducing development time.
Automobile technology is becoming more complex and complicated as electric vehicles become more widespread and improved driver-assistance systems become mainstream. Model-based development, an approach for refining complicated design processes that employs software to simulate models and assess performance in real time, is assisting product developers. MBD contributes to development improvements in the car industry by concurrently developing design and verification prior to producing prototypes.
MBD divides functions into chunks and connects them to verify overall vehicle behavior. To evaluate heat and electromagnetic interference (EMI), which are critical factors for evaluating the operation of automotive equipment, detailed simulation models that incorporate the behavior of semiconductors in individual blocks are necessary. Verification periods are becoming longer as models become more complex and exact.
Electronic circuits that function in microseconds are combined with mechanical components like gears and shafts that work in milliseconds in sub-systems like electric power steering. Toshiba’s present technology replicates both electrical and mechanical circuits in real time, on a microsecond basis, however this results in a significant number of needless and time-consuming computations in the mechanical components. The technique is especially difficult since it uses the SPICE model, which defines over 100 parameters for simulating semiconductor activity.