Did you know that a modern automobile might contain as many as 100 sensors? Automotive sensors are electronic devices that measure pressure, acceleration, inclination, temperature, and much more, feeding this data back to the vehicle's various control units. They also come in a mind-boggling array of configurations, many of them safety-critical. Today, they are indispensable components of an intelligent automotive system.
Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are sensors that convert pressure or physical movement into electrical signals. MEMS-interfacing ASICs control MEMS element behavior and measure the tiny signals received from the element, perform signal processing, and then generate the digital output.
Murata is the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of inertial sensors for the automotive industry. It designs, develops, and manufactures sensors based on patented 3D MEMS technology in Finland. Considering the safety-critical nature of its products, Murata Finland requires a state-of-the-art EDA environment for their design and verification.
This is where the Cadence Managed Cloud Service comes in, an EDA-optimized platform with a fully integrated and proven cloud environment to launch product design, verification, and implementation. The platform serves a full front-to-back design flow, partial design flow, and hybrid cloud-based peak capacity to augment an on-premises compute environment.
Cadence and Murata Finland: Extending a Partnership
Recently, Murata Finland and Cadence renewed their license agreement, which enables Murata Finland to leverage Cadence’s advanced EDA software hosted securely in the cloud.
Using the Cadence Managed Cloud Service, Murata Finland was able to improve engineering productivity by 10% when developing a mixed-signal MEMS-sensing ASIC for a new product, including accelerometer and gyroscope MEMS, in collaboration with its design partners and Cadence design services. Cadence’s cloud solution ensured that critical resources within the Murata Finland ASIC team focused on design rather than IT tasks. Furthermore, third-party designers could seamlessly collaborate with Murata designers.
Murata Finland also scaled up the cloud solution quickly when it needed additional capacity or when adding engineers to the project. Cadence provided 24/7 support for the cloud environment and resolved any issues promptly. With efficient preventative maintenance, the critical phases of the project went smoothly. Additionally, Murata Finland kept the project on schedule by leveraging Cadence design services and EDA tool support.
“As a leading manufacturer of inertial sensors for the automotive industry, Murata requires a state-of-the-art EDA environment for the design and verification of our safety-critical products,” said Ville-Pekka Rytkönen, general manager, Product Development at Murata Finland. “The Cadence Managed Cloud Service allowed us to quickly scale when additional capacity was needed, or when new engineers were added to the project. Because our ASIC team could focus on critical design rather than IT tasks, collaboration with our third-party designers was seamless. The Cadence Managed Cloud Service also enabled the effective use of Cadence design services and support when needed.
“Managing downtime in IT systems is crucial in such projects”, reported Ville-Pekka Rytkönen from Murata Finland. Cadence Managed Cloud Service maintained an uptime of more than 99.9999% (above the industry standard) during the project.
“The Cadence Managed Cloud Service provides a secure, collaborative design environment that allows customers like Murata Finland to quickly and easily harness the power of the cloud without assuming a heavy IT burden,” said Mahesh Turaga, vice president of Cloud Business Development at Cadence. “Murata Finland was also able to leverage Cadence design services and EDA tool support to mitigate risk associated with IT system downtime or failure, keeping their microchip project on schedule.”
With the global automotive sensors market set to grow at 11.68% to a staggering $71 billion by 2030 and constant evolution in sensor technology itself, this is clearly a very competitive and dynamic industry. Cadence Managed Cloud Service ensures that Murata maintains its lead in the automotive sensor market by providing a secure and collaborative design environment.
