Fujitsu introduces 394 Automotive controller IC

The controller IC, the MB88395, can simultaneously transmit multiple streams within the vehicle, such as HD video from Blu-ray DVDs, digital TV, audio and car navigation images.

The IC realises this by utilising a high-speed 800Mbps physical layer and Fujitsu's proprietary Smartcodec, which provides high compression and can transmit HD video without perceptible lag.

This reduces the system cost of in-vehicle multimedia networks by a maximum of 30 per cent, while reducing the number of wire harnesses (cables) by a maximum of 70 per cent in order to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency.

The company claims that there is increasing attention being paid to 1394 Automotive for in-vehicle multimedia networking and it is expected to become common in the automotive market.

The reason for this includes the gradual shift to digital TV in each country, the increased availability of HD content and the analogue output from Blu-ray players to be stopped from 2013.

These factors make 1394 Automotive necessary for the upcoming flood of digital transmissions through in-car networks, according to Fujitsu.

The Smartcodec, which was developed by Fujitsu Laboratories and is used in the BT.601 transport over the IEEE-1394(3) standard, can compress and decompress high-resolution video in 2-3ms without any perceptible time lag or out-of-sync contents.

The company is now planning to expand its line-up of 1394 Automotive ICs to handle the increasing information streams in automobiles, such as video content and peripheral cameras on the vehicle, as well as to drive further reductions in system costs.

Sample shipment of the MB88395 will begin on 22 April 2009.

Fujitsu will present and demonstrate the controller IC at the 1394 Automotive Tech seminar in Detroit, US, on 30 April 2009.