OREANDA-NEWS. Toshiba Corporation announced the launch of a key new addition to its extensive portfolio of solutions for the automotive market. The TC358791XBG automotive companion chip was created to drive high-resolution multimedia (audio, video) and camera connectivity for next-generation infotainment applications in the connected car.

Sample shipments start today, with mass production scheduled to start in Mar, 2015.

The new chip supports the latest automotive Gigabit Ethernet AVB standard for a wide range of applications, such as front, rear and surround-view cameras, digital audio, and transferring high-resolution video content to head-unit and rear-seat entertainment systems. The TC358791XBG can also seamlessly interface with and support many leading-edge automotive application processors on the market, thanks to its USB 3.0 and MIPI(r) CSI-2 and DSI connectivity for both audio and video, and will support Automotive Electronics Council reliability specification AEC-Q100 (Grade 3). The TC358791XBG can help reduce both time to market and overall system bill-of-materials costs for automotive infotainment systems.

The TC358791XBG can split one video input into two pictures and can simultaneously drive two high-resolution low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) digital displays. Examples include head units, instrument clusters, and parking aid vision systems. The chip can also send high-resolution audio and video data from the host processor to multiple displays or other electronic control units in the car, and it has a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI(r)) 1.4 receiver interface to allow connection of HDMI(r)-enabled devices to the application processor.

The new chip is housed in a FBGA257 15mm ? 15mm package with 0.8 mm ball pitch. Additional features include differential CVBS (composite) interfaces for analog composite video sources, support for early back-up camera view (CVBS to LVDS), and ability to relay packetized IQ audio tuner data to the host via USB.