VLSI system design for automotive control

Presents a novel VLSI approach for combustion engine control. The approach is based on a real-time solution of a thermodynamical differential equation. The control system calculates an optimum ignition point by fast measurement and real-time processing of signals as temperature, pressure, and volume of the combustion chamber. The required computational power cannot be met with standard signal processors. The design of a mechatronic system that is based on an application-specific vector architecture is presented. Each design step from the analysis of the heat release algorithm, the optimization of the algorithm and the dataform, the mapping on architecture, the physical design of the testchip set and the single chip, the chip test, and the system integration, is presented. Finally, the application at an engine test-stand and results are shown.