UNTERPREMSTAETTEN, Austria -- ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs for consumer and communications, industrial and medical, and automotive applications, has announced that their ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) for car seat occupancy detection systems is now entering high-volume production. Takata Corp., the leading automotive safety systems supplier, will employ the ASIC in their occupant classification systems.
The Takata occupant classification system, named CS3 (Child Seat Suppression System), can distinguish between an adult and a rear-facing infant seat present on the passenger seat. These systems help to save lives by suppressing the airbag deployment in the presence of a baby seat. Moreover, new governmental regulations demand this safety feature to be present in every future car.
The CS3 is an electric field device which effectively measures the capacitive coupling between the sensing electrode in the seat, the occupant, and the vehicle ground. The mass and position of the occupant relate directly to the magnitude of the signal response, thus allowing for a clear distinction between children and adults. The CS3 ECU communicates the resultant occupant state to the airbag control unit.
ams' ASIC performs high-precision measurements supported by a multitude of diagnosis features. The IC was specially designed to work under high electromagnetic disturbances (EMC) such as the operation of mobile phones in the car.
Thomas Mueller, product manager for automotive ASICs at ams, states: "ams' long-term experience in safety and EMC-robust designs allows our customers to design demanding safety-critical applications."
Jeff Bennett, Director of Engineering for Occupant Detection Systems at Takata, comments: "Together with our partner, ams, we offer a cost-effective, robust solution consistent with our mission of protecting human life."
About ams
ams develops and manufactures high-performance analog semiconductors that solve its customers' most challenging problems with innovative solutions. ams' products are aimed at applications which require extreme precision, accuracy, dynamic range, sensitivity, and ultra-low power consumption. ams' product range includes sensors, sensor interfaces, power management ICs and wireless ICs for customers in the consumer, industrial, medical, mobile communications and automotive markets.
With headquarters in Austria, ams employs over 1,200 people globally and serves more than 6,500 customers worldwide. ams is the new name of austriamicrosystems, following the 2011 acquisition of optical sensor company TAOS Inc. ams is listed on the SIX Swiss stock exchange (ticker symbol: AMS).