FILU: Embedded filter unit for automotive signal conditioning

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 95.0721

Key words (English)

Digital filtering; knock; engine management; ignition system; I/O processor; main processing unit

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: EP 20.386

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 4. Frame Research Programme - 1.3 Telematic systems

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Centre de recherche Fiat (I); Massana (IRL), Universite de Technologie de Darmstadt (D);
Etnoteam (I)

Abstract (English)

Today all European built vehicles are equipped with an electronic engine management system. Due to a world-wide tendency for lower environmental emissions enforced by several international regulations, it will be necessary to decrease automotive emissions by reducing HC, CO and Nox levels. Moreover car manufacturer aim to decrease the average fuel consumption. Therefore the combustion efficiency has to be improved to meet the new constraints. A feasible solution is to increase the engine compression ratio. But as a consequence the engine knock is increased as well. Therefore to conquer that situation the engine has to operate just in the proximity of the knock state by means of an adapted spark timing.
Thus the ability to detect engine knock with high precision, allowing ignition timing to be advanced right until before knock occurs, will be mandatory for car makers. We can conclude that the next generation of engine management units will be equipped with the knock detection circuitry containing advanced detection and control algorithms.
Therefore within the Esprit project FILU, the FIAT research center (CRF) and the technical university of Darmstadt (TUD) developed two advanced detection algorithms dedicated for on-chip programmable co-processor, called filter processor, for embedded controllers in automotive applications. This filter processor performs numerical calculation independently to the main CPU.
After the development of the knock detection algorithms (CRF and TUD), the need for an architectural solution onto which the algorithms could be efficiently mapped has become obvious. The wide range of Motorola products allows a variety of such architectures to be designed, meeting different cost-performances trade-off criteria.
Our goal was to explore different architectural solutions, mainly those ones in line with trends in the Powertrain organization, and to highlight pros and cons of each of them.
From the starting point it was clear that our architecture would consist of a Main Processing Unit (MPU) and some peripherals. What had to be found out was whether the application would require an I/O Processing Unit (IOP) and if yes, what kind of IOP.
We developed a library of behavioral models of the peripherals needed and at first designed a component independent architecture onto which we mapped the knock detection algorithms. This exercise has proven very useful in proving the overall knock detection concept.
In a second stage, we mapped the Software tasks onto cycle accurate simulators of the devices whose performances we wanted to evaluate.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 95.0721