MOST Boasts Expanding Hardware/Software Support

POWER-MANAGEMENT AND PROCESSOR ICs
Recently, STMicroelectronics launched the industry’s first integrated power-management IC for MOST. Designed in cooperation with SMSC, the L5961 includes a 3.3-V or 5-V, 650-mA power supply and MOST-compliant power-management control logic, together with enhanced diagnostic and system-monitoring circuitry, all in a PowerSS036 package (Fig. 2).

A chip set combining the L5961 and SMSC’s intelligent network-interface controller (INIC) can serve as a building block in any MOST-network node without being redesigned and re-evaluated each time it’s placed into an application.

SMSC’s INIC eLITE technology is a low-cost, entrylevel automotive networking solution for transporting multiple channels of digital audio and video content between various automotive components. It eliminates extra wiring and the added cost of transmitters, receivers, and analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters (ADCs and DACs) while maintaining high signal quality.

Freescale Semiconductor also supports MOST with its MPC5121e and i.MX31 mobileGT processors. The MPC5121e integrates a high-performance MPC603e series e300 core with a rich set of peripheral functions for communications and systems integration. The i.MX31 applications processor is designed for automotive infotainment systems.

Fujitsu recently announced the 32-bit MB91F467M microcontroller unit (MCU), which integrates SMSC’s MediaLB interface (Fig. 3). Designed for automotive audio applications, the chip acts as a gateway between the MOST bus, via its MediaLB INIC eLite interface, and up to 10 12S interfaces. In addition to data, it provides a clock path with extremely low jitter from the MOST backbone to or from these interfaces.