{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.035641130684145844, 'fraction_numerical': 0.019664072101597707, 'mean_word_length': 5.617886178861789, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Microcontroller Units in Automobiles [Automotive Electronics]

It is estimated that today’s wellequipped automobile uses more than 50 microcontroller units (MCUs). As a result, in-vehicle networking has created a quiet evolution in automotive technology, resulting in the elimination of unwieldy wiring harnesses once used in control circuits [1]. Networking has made the advanced technology features for 2010– 2011 model vehicles possible, including onboard communications systems, control systems such as lanedeparture warning systems, and (slippery) road-condition advisories. Rising fuel prices and environmental concerns are also accelerating electronic innovations in the automobile. As a consequence, the worldwide automotive market for MCUs is expected to reach US$5.5 billion in 2014—50% of which will be responsible for ‘‘green’’ optimization. As shown in Figure 1, in 2009, MCU revenue was 24.6% of US$16 billion, which equals US$3.9 billion. Therefore, the MCU market is forecasted to increase from US$3.9 billion to US$5.5 billion, or by 41% during the 2009–2014 time period. Until a few years ago, most semiconductors targeted for automotive applications, both under the hood and in the passenger cabin, came from a handful of integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) that developed, manufactured, and marketed their own semiconductor devices. As the automotive product road map moved to more advanced processes, IDMs needed to find qualified automotive foundries for their production. As a result, semiconductor fabrication (fab) house foundries have become the foundation for the automotive integrated circuit industry. The popularity of applications, such as Bluetooth connections, global positioning systems, and networking, have opened up opportunities for nontraditional fab-less semiconductor companies to enter the automotive market. Fab-less companies faced the same challenges as their IDM counterparts—the need to find a qualified automotive foundry. The largest segment of the automotive semiconductor market comprised MCUs that require embedded flash, a form of nonvolatile memory technology. Many technologies used in ‘‘green’’ vehicles, such as hybrids, are managed through MCUs. The increase in sales for energy-efficient vehicles additionally fuels the MCU market. The growing complexity in automotive electronics is amplifying the need for higher performance 32-b MCUs with more embedded nonvolatile memory [1].