Rohm Semiconductor India to display energy efficient solutions at Electronica-India 2018

Rohm, a Japan-based leading semiconductor solution provider eyeing Indian electric vehicle market with its new low power and energy efficient power solutions to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles and other hybrid-EVs (also called xEV).

The company will showcase its new solutions for power and energy management in the automotive applications at the upcoming Electronica-India 2018, the trade fair for components, systems and applications in electronics to be held in Bangalore from September 26 to 28, 2018.

Rohm will present automotive solutions in five categories – SiC power devices, analog technologies, infotainment, body and powertrain, and Made in India for India.

 “At this time, Rohm will showcase the products and solutions which are supposed to be the key technologies in the future EV market of India. The impact on next generation automobiles and its eco-system are very innovative and these have been adopted in the advanced xEV market like Japan, USA, Europe, and China,” said Daisuke Nakamura, managing director, Rohm Semiconductor India.

“The growing and developing market for xEV (Electric Vehicles) in India can contribute to substantial reduction CO2 emissions, and India has laid out optimistic plans to accelerate the adoption of EVs by year 2030,” said Nakamura.

Rohm says it is pushing forward with the latest cutting-edge development of SiC (silicon carbide) power devices, which are expected to realise dramatic loss reductions compared to conventional Si (silicon) power devices. These power devices will be used more and more on electric vehicle (EV) motors and inverters.

“The properties of the still relatively new material SiC promise comprehensive application possibilities in power electronics. The SiC-based voltage converters have significantly less losses than conventional silicon-based converters. It also enables significantly smaller modules, components and systems than silicon. The increasing demand for the most energy-efficient devices possible will therefore increase the demand for SiC components in the coming years,” said Nakamura.

Nano-pulse control- power ICs for hybrid-vehicles, e-bike
The company recently announced the availability of a DC/DC converter with built-in MOSFET that achieves the highest step-down ratio in the industry (at 2MHz) required for 48V automotive systems such as mild-hybrid vehicles, e-Bikes.

EV-inverter and charging stations 
Rohm is a major supplier of auto-electronic components providing energy efficient power solutions for xEV (electric vehicles). The drive towards eco-friendly mobility across the world, and accelerating in India too, means that electric vehicle will remain a key focus area for the company.

By using this full SiC power module in the inverter section (the powertrain core), it makes the inverter 43 percent smaller and 6kg lighter than in season two. Even compared to the previous inverter used in season three, it is 30 percent smaller and 4kg lighter.

Automotive DRL/Rear-lamps
The company says Daytime Running lights (DRL) automotive headlights are increasingly transitioning from conventional halogen lamps to LEDs. As such significant growth is expected in this sector. And although halogen lamps are still the mainstream choice, LEDs currently occupy 25 percent of the total headlight market. In recent years, DRLs continue to be adopted, as they are automatically switched-on during the day to increase visibility by oncoming vehicles, and have been proven to prevent accidents.

Sequential turn lighting is an application unique to LEDs, in which a string of LEDs lights up sequentially to indicate right or left when turning, acting as blinkers. When stopping, both the right and left rows light up at the same time. Many of the latest cars have already incorporated sequential lighting.

In automotive applications, however, the rear LEDs are connected in parallel and all LEDs are lit simultaneously. It is possible to reduce brightness variations to some extent using stabilising resistors, but this has proven to be insufficient. Rohm proposes a solution using a constant current driver IC to reduce variations, together with our industry-leading resistors and diodes.

The company says this share is predicted to increase to 40-50 percent by 2021-2022.

‘Made in India, for India’
The company will display the product development for two-wheeler emissions control and Integrated Lamp Control for LED Lighting Applications that will be needed when Bharat Stage (BS) VI emission norms come in effect by 2020.

Rohm says in the backdrop of BS-VI emissions norms to be implemented in India for all vehicles, including two-wheelers, Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) Control Systems will be required on two-wheelers, by 2020. Fuel Pump with Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor forms an integral part of EFI System on two-wheelers.

Adoption of the BLDC fuel pump motor is critical to meet the power requirements of OEMs and avoid failures common with brushed DC Motors. Rohm India Design Centre provides reference solutions based on 3-phase BLDC Motor Driver to address these requirements and achieve faster time-to-market.

Integrated Lamp Control
Usage of LED lighting enables improved safety, higher efficiency and better aesthetics in two-wheeler lighting. Rohm says it is committed to provide comprehensive LED lighting solutions, including Integrated Lamp Control, for the Indian two-wheeler market. Rohm India Design Centre is therefore building a roadmap of LED driver ICs to meet specific requirements of Indian OEMs, Tier1s and their corresponding value chains.

Efficient Brushless DC (BLDC) Motors
In addition, it is developing automotive 3-phase gate driver ICs for BLDC Motor Applications. This lineup is expected to meet the requirements of applications such as integrated starter generator (ISG) for both two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Further they can address the specific needs of radiator cooling fan, HVAC blower fan and other applications within the automotive segment that are based on BLDC Motor.