Digital signal controllers

The relatively new semiconductor type combines a 16-bit microcontroller and a digital signal processor on one chip, with the benefits of both, says Microchip Technology.

Automotive design has come a long way, from the purely mechanical systems of yesteryear to modern automobiles that often contain up to a hundred microprocessors. Traditionally, the only features of an automobile that used any form of electronics were those related to entertainment, most typically the car radio.

It was only after the introduction of government regulations on facets of automotive performance, such as exhaust emissions and fuel economy, that electronic control of automotive functions started becoming more and more commonplace. Initially, some of these functions were performed by discrete hardware components or digital logic. With the advent of embedded processor solutions such as microcontrollers, or MCUs, it gradually became highly advantageous (in terms of cost and flexibility, and sometimes sheer necessity-driven by regulations and standards) to replace fixed hardware with MCUs that could be programmed to perform the specific tasks required by the module.