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Freescale Semiconductor to make next generation ECU for Chery Automotive

Freescale Semiconductor announced it is providing advanced microcontroller (MCU) technology to Chery Automobile, one of China’s largest automotive manufacturers, for the engine control unit (ECU) in future Chery vehicle models.

Microprocessors, controllers and sensors are unseen by the average consumer, but enable products we use every day to be smarter, greener, safer and significantly advance our quality of life.

So, when it came for high performance, reliability and scalability, Chery selected Freescale’s Qorivva 32-bit MPC563x MCU family.

Freescale Semiconductor, a privately held company headquartered in Austin, Texas with design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations in more than 20 countries is already a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets.

According to the news release reported from Shanghai and forwarded to me by Lois Paul & Partners (LP&P), Freescale and Chery have a history of collaboration and innovation.

In April 2008, for example, the two companies established a joint development lab in Wuhu, China. The lab is focused on the development of vehicle and battery management, powertrain, body and in-vehicle entertainment systems, as well as hybrid-electric vehicle/electric vehicle technology.

In 2009, Chery developed the Chery Engine Management System (CEMS) based on Freescale’s S12XE 16-bit MCUs. The Qorivva MCU family Chery selected for its latest ECU is built on 32-bit Power Architecture® technology. The new Chery vehicle models using the higher-performance Qorivva 32-bit MCUs are expected to reach full production in 2012.

Chery is also developing a higher level engine management system (EMS) covering the VVT / EGR / GDI and other advanced control technologies, which will make the EMS more complex and demand more powerful computing capacity from the MCU. Chery will use Freescale's Qorivva 32-bit MPC563x MCU to develop these systems as Chery believes that this MCU will be the core chip in automotive electronic controls.

“We believe Freescale Qorivva MCUs are an excellent choice for our new engine control unit,” said Zhu Hang, assistant president and director of Chery’s Engine Control Department and its independent R&D on the EMS project. “Because of its advanced and complex control functions, we expect the MPC563x family to be the main chip used in future Chery engine control systems. And our cooperation extends beyond engine control. The results of our work together on compressed natural gas, flex-fuel and gasoline direct injection technologies will also enter production in the near future.”

For the record, China was the world’s largest auto market in 2010 with 18 million vehicles sold; and it is expected to set a new sales record for 2011, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Going forward, Chery and other Chinese automotive manufacturers are devoting extensive research and funding to alternative energy vehicle development and are increasing their electronics system design capabilities through R&D centers such as the one Chery shares with Freescale.

Reagrding Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., it is China's largest national brand car company and has been committed to independent research and development. Chery's proprietary EMS research and development adopts the international advanced model-based development mode and has generated a complete development process from the variable naming, control policy design, software testing, software integration and HIL testing to calibration.

Over time, Chery has developed the Chery Engine Management System1.0 (CEMS1.0) and CEMS2.0 systems. Starting in August 2009, CEMS1.0 and CEMS2.0 have been applied in Cowin 2, Cowin 3, Fengwin 2, QQ3 and other models, with monthly sales of more than 20,000. It is expected that the monthly shipment of CEMS system enabled cars in the second half of 2011 will account for 80 percent of Chery’s total monthly shipment, with annual cost savings of more than $100 million.

The Torque model based CEMS system provides good idle stability, drivability, starting performance, emissions and fuel economy. After-sales IPTV statistics indicates that compared with other EMS systems, the CEMS system provides more reliable quality.

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About the Author: After 39 years in the auto industry as a design engineer, Frank Sherosky now trades stocks and writes articles, books and ebooks via authorfrank.com, but may be contacted here by email: [email protected]

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