Automotive Electronics: Microprocessors “Under the Hood”

General Motors ranks as the world's largest producer of microprocessor based engine control computers having produced over fifteen million units by mid 1984. Motorola is GM's largest supplier of microprocessor LSI and VLSI ICs for this application. This experience has led the two companies to jointly define the MC68HC11, an HCMOS upgrade of the popular MC6801 microcomputer, tailored for the automotive and other control applications. This paper describes the automotive electronics requirements Including climatic and electrical environments, describes the MC6BHC11 features developed for this control application, shows baseline engine control module mechanizations using the MC68HC11, and examines some trends in future microcomputer design for control applications.