Zynq based ecu drives LMP1 cars to the podium
Bosch Motorsport has designed Xilinx' Zynq-7000 All Programmable devices into its latest engine control unit (ecu) processing core. The ecus have already featured in race winning LMP1 cars taking part in this year's FIA World Endurance Championship. The HEL based ecu handles the diesel engine management, including multipoint injection and pressure control. As well as collecting engine data, the ecu also provides functions like the pit lane speed limiter and traction control.
"The versatile architecture of Zynq devices allows us to react to change requests fast," says Markus Kirchner, group leader, hardware development, for Bosch Motorsport. "Reusing certain IP blocks also shortened the development time dramatically." Bosch had previously used an fpga and a discrete mcu, but the combination failed to meet the performance requirements for the new system.
Bosch Motorsport now plans to use the Zynq platform for petrol engine controllers in other race series cars, as well as a data logger or as an in vehicle graphics display controller.
"We are extremely pleased to be given the opportunity to show the high performance and low power capabilities of our Zynq devices in such a competitive environment," said Jack Dunnigan, Xilinx' senior director, segment marketing and business development.
