Freescale ships more than 100 million Power Architecture™ controllers for advanced powertrain management

World’s No. 1 supplier of automotive semiconductors leads the pack in 32-bit flash-based MCUs for engine/transmission control units

AUSTIN, Texas .– Freescale Semiconductor, the leading supplier of semiconductors to the automotive industry, has reached a major milestone in the powertrain microelectronics market. The company has shipped more than 100 million 32-bit Power Architecture™ microcontrollers (MCUs) that provide the processing intelligence for today’s electronic modules used in engine and transmission control.

Freescale is the industry’s foremost supplier of powertrain MCUs, with approximately 45 percent market share. In 2007, Freescale’s Power Architecture MCU shipments for powertrain topped 30 million units -- a significant increase over 2006 shipments.

“With more than one billion microcontroller, sensor and analog devices shipped every year, Freescale provides more silicon for the automotive market than any other semiconductor supplier,” said Denis Griot, chairman of Freescale EMEA and the company’s global automotive marketing lead. “Automotive technology continues to be a huge and growing research and development focus at Freescale. In fact, 30 percent of Freescale’s overall product portfolio is powering today’s vehicles, while automotive microelectronics represents less than 10 percent of the global semiconductor market.”

Freescale developed the industry’s first Power Architecture automotive MCUs – the MPC500 family, introduced in 1999. In 2004, Freescale launched its next-generation MPC5500 MCU family, the company’s first fully synthesizable system-on-chip (SoC) devices optimized for automotive designs. To date, Freescale has shipped more than five million MPC5500 MCU units to tier-one OEM customers and the world’s leading automakers.

Based on the powerful yet energy-efficient e200 Power Architecture core and built on Freescale’s proven 130-nanometer technology, the MPC5500 family includes a wide range of devices optimized for performance-intensive automotive applications:
• MPC5510: First Freescale dual-core automotive MCU family, designed for cost-sensitive body electronics
• MPC5534/33: First Freescale automotive MCU with variable-length encoding (VLE) for improved code density
• MPC5553: First Freescale automotive MCU to offer Fast Ethernet, ideal for real-time management applications such as engine control
• MPC5561: High-performance MCU with FlexRay™ technology optimized for adaptive cruise control and other sensor-based safety applications
• MPC5565: Aimed at mid-range powertrain applications, featuring 2MB flash, VLE and floating point capabilities
• MPC5566: The industry’s first MCU to integrate 3MB of flash memory, making it an ideal solution for memory-intensive powertrain applications
• MPC5567: The industry’s first 32-bit flash-based MCU with FlexRay technology, designed to enable a 10x increase in in-vehicle network bandwidth over previous networking technologies

Driven by the market success of the MPC500 and MPC5500 families, Power Architecture technology has become the leading 32-bit core architecture for advanced automotive applications, such as powertrain control. Underscoring MPC5500 MCU family’s high quality and broad industry acceptance, General Motors has adopted Freescale’s Power Architecture MCUs for use in GM powertrain engine control systems worldwide, including hybrid systems.

“Powertrain applications are the harshest of automotive electronic environments,” said Mark Fitzgerald, an automotive electronics analyst at Strategy Analytics. “In addition, future vehicle emissions legislation and propulsion technologies will ensure that powertrain control remains one of the most challenging applications. Semiconductor suppliers who have a robust product development roadmap and can deliver reliable, high-performance microcontrollers that meet the demanding requirements of leading automotive electronics manufacturers will be well-positioned to succeed in the powertrain market.”