Platform based design for automotive sensor conditioning

A general architecture suitable for interfacing several kinds of sensors for automotive applications is presented. A platform based design approach is pursued to improve system performance while minimizing time-to-market. The platform is composed of an analog front-end and a digital section. The latter is based on a microcontroller core (8051 IP by Oregano) plus a set of hardware dedicated to the complex signal processing required for sensor conditioning. The microcontroller also handles the communication with external devices (such as a PC) for data output and fast prototyping. A case study is presented concerning the conditioning of a gyro yaw rate sensor for automotive applications. Measured performance results outperform current state-of-the-art commercial devices.