Reducing power consumption in battery-powered applications

摘要

Automotive-electronics content is expanding at an ever-increasing pace. Today, an average car has 25 to 35 microcontrollers; approximately half of those are 8-bit units. High-end vehicles can easily have 80 or more microcontrollers. With rising energy costs fueling an explosion of hybrid technologies and car buyers demanding more comfort features and conveniences, automakers look to electronics for the solutions. This search translates to a dramatic rise in the need for computing power under the hood and in the cabin. The system challenge that all that computing power creates is a greater demand for electrical power. Because increasing the electrical capacity of the car generally adds weight and reduces fuel economy, the alternative is to either use less power or make more efficient use of the available power in the car.