TRUMPFTRUMPF Photonic Components and KDPOF working together for new wavelength standards in optical data communication within the automotive branch // Optical interconnects to become an indispensable part in future cars // The target is to bring to the market an integrated transceiver for multi-gigabit optical communications into automobile // 980nm wavelength VCSELs for greater robustness and service life Read more
Tag Archive for: in-vehicle connectivity
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IEEEKDPOF is proud to announce the new stage in the P802.3cz standard moving into IEEE-SA ballot phase. The P802.3cz amendment defines an optional start-up procedure that enables the time from power_on=FALSE to a state capable of transmitting and receiving valid data to be less than 100ms and support data rates of 2.5, 5, 10, 25, and 50 Gb/s at the MAC/PLS service interface. Read more
At the 30th International Conference for Plastic Optical Fibers, POF 2022, from September 26 to 28, 2022 in Bilbao, Spain, César Esteban will present “The Optical In-vehicle Network” on Monday, September 26, at 10:45. Following an update on the latest achievements and an outlook to future technology, he will also address traditional concerns about optical in automotive, including: cost, cable bending radius, vibrations, mechanical stress (tension, torsion, dynamic cycling), temperature, dirty environment, and port dimensions (PCB area and area of the optical header on the ECU front panel).
From September 18 to 22, 2022, the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) will take place in Basel, Switzerland. KDPOF is proud to be part of the program at the continent’s largest event in the field and one of the most prestigious and traditional events on optical communications worldwide. On September 19 at 16:00, Carlos Pardo, CEO and Co-founder of KDPOF, will present “Latest innovations and optical fiber benefits in the automotive and industrial sector”. In addition, Dr. Joseph Pankert, VP Product Management at Trumpf Photonic Components, and Rubén Pérez-Aranda, CTO and Co-founder at KDPOF, will present “980nm VCSELs: New Standard in Automotive” on September 21 at 15:15. Read more
César Esteban from KDPOF, in his technical workshop at the Wire Harness Congress on September 20, 2022 at 15:30 in Landshut, Germany, will display the benefits of optical communications for the in-vehicle network.
As the challenges of multi-gigabit increase, costs should not increase at the same scale. Optical provides a low-cost, robust, and reliable solution for the in-vehicle wiring system. Optical’s EMC superior performance prevents the need for heavy, bulky, expensive cables with rigid and age-prone shielding. The inherent galvanic isolation of optical fiber solves the ground loop issues and the return currents through cable shielding. Read more
On September 29, 2022 at the INNOVA ICAI Forum in Madrid, Carlos Pardo will speak about “Towards the connectivity of the future in the automotive sector”. In the interview with Javier Villacampa, Innovation Director of Grupo Antolin, Carlos Pardo will discuss the connectivity of the future in the automotive sector and the role of KDPOF in these major changes.
KDPOF has developed and validated the first 1000BASE-RH SFP module for optical gigabit connectivity in vehicles. The design of the new small form-factor pluggable transceiver module is based on a standard SFP supporting MSA registers via I2C bus. The module can operate at 100 and 1,000 Mb/s. It integrates the whole 1000BASE-RHC PHY and the header connector for SI-POF optical harness. “Our new SFP module has been tested and validated in a functional demo recently,” stated Carlos Pardo. “We are proud to accomplish the first milestone for future commercial optical 1000BASE-RH SFP modules, which will integrate into the optical ecosystem in automotive.”
The forecasts for next year are better but will not be able to overcome the demand from the automotive industry and the other industries that need these components. Francisco Quatrin from Portal Movilidad has spoken with KDPOF CEO Carlos Pardo.
The semiconductor industry will not recover until 2024: What will happen to electric vehicles?
The microchip crisis that began in 2020 still seems to have no end. The industry predicted its end within the next few months, but the sector warns that it will have to wait at least two years for the situation to normalize. 2024 is the year that resonates among microchip and semiconductor industry specialists. “It took us almost a year to manufacture something that should be ready in four months,” says Carlos Pardo.
The shortage crisis was caused by three factors that converged at the beginning of the pandemic.
Firstly, it was caused by the fact that half of the world’s production means slowed down their production due to the health crisis. But on the other hand, demand for electronic devices soared. “Everyone had to connect from home, so the demand for tablets, computers and phones grew exponentially,” says Pardo.
A second factor was the automotive industry, which, when the quarantines began, its production was greatly reduced and so was demand. People stopped buying cars. There was a mismatch in global supply there because the demand for microchips was going into the production of other items and not the automobile. “When the automotive sector woke up, it started to want to produce and there was no capacity to support that demand, which was outstripped by supply,” explains KDPOF’s CEO. A conventional car needs up to 10 different types of microchips ranging from 65 nanometers to 85 nanometers, in the conventional. In other cases, there may be 180 and 190 or 16.
The third factor has to do with what happened last year when the supply was non-existent and the vehicle or electronics manufacturing companies started to stock up abruptly. Because of this, the stock of microchips was almost finished by the end of 2021 and made 2022 start with long delays in production. “All the companies are looking at growing and re-stocking, so supply is still below demand,” says Pardo.
What will happen in the future?
The forecast for next year is that the semiconductor industry will start to be able to cope with more demand but will remain below what is expected. Therefore there will be a lack of supply in 2023. “Part of the industry says it will improve because there will already be stock, but there are others who argue that it won’t and the need will still exist,” the CEO argues. Many of the large microchip factories, such as TSMC, have been investing in the last three years in new factories to meet this demand. With these new factories up and running, it is likely that manufacturing capacity will double and there will be more supply. But, Pardo warns: “What the sector is warning is that prices will not go down, because they will still have to amortize the costs of these factories”.
The Position of the Automakers
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is caught in the crisis situation of the lack of supply of microchips. The Japanese brand, as well as other manufacturers (such as Tesla) had better forecasts around the semiconductor crisis What is happening to them? Toyota is having serious problems in the supply of microchips. But the forecasts were relatively good and now, as August approaches, the Japanese brand has decided to reduce its production target for next month.
So, not only are they going to reduce their production during August, but they are also going to stop several of their facilities in Japan. Initially, Toyota had planned a production of 850,000 vehicles during the coming month of August. However, they have just adjusted this forecast to 700,000 vehicles.
According to the company’s own indications, production will be reduced due to the shortage of semiconductors. A significant cut of 18% in its manufacturing which, for the time being, will not affect annual production.
The original Spanish feature from July 26, 2022 is available at portalmovilidad.com/
At the The Future of Mobility event, hosted by STMicroelectronics and Plug and Play from September 12 to 13, 2022 in Catania, Italy, KDPOF CEO Carlos Pardo will present an outlook for optical connectivity in intelligent vehicles. With this event, STMicroelectronics and Plug and Play are driving open innovation to the next level by bringing together the mobility industry leaders, OEMs and suppliers. “At KDPOF, we’re proud to participate in exploring the future of mobility at this leading industry event for automotive innovations,” stated Carlos Pardo. “We’re excited to show more about our future projects and, especially, our core and corporate culture.” Read more
Extreme technology, billions of euros and rooms that are much cleaner than those in an operating theater. This is how a microchip is manufactured.
Toñi Fernández from the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser has spoken with KDPOF CEO Carlos Pardo about the plans to set up a semiconductor packaging plant in the Madrid area. As follows, please see the translated summary of the Spanish audio. Read more
