Microchip and Marelli show open-standard vehicle display link
Image: Microchip Technology
Microchip Technology and automotive supplier Marelli have demonstrated a link that sends graphics and video from a vehicle’s central computer directly to its displays using ASA Motion Link (ASA-ML).
ASA-ML is an open standard for automotive video connectivity and serializer-deserializer communication, defined by the Automotive SerDes Alliance. The alliance brings together vehicle makers, Tier 1 suppliers and semiconductor companies.
The demonstrator uses Microchip’s VS7000 ASA-ML chipset to process and transmit content. Marelli handles display-side integration, configuring the deserializer to receive and decode video streams such as camera feeds, navigation maps and vehicle control interfaces.
The companies say the approach supports interoperability between cockpit systems and displays from different suppliers. They position this as a way to simplify display architectures and increase sourcing flexibility as vehicle electronics move towards centralised computing.
The announcement lists data rates up to 16 Gbps, link-layer authentication and encryption, and embedded Time Division Duplex operation with simplified Forward Error Correction. The companies say the latter features contribute to lower power consumption.
The work is presented as a joint demonstrator. Microchip says it extends its previous ASA-ML camera interoperability work to display connectivity.
