Cost-optimised central body control units

Continental has developed cost-optimised central body control units for all car segments

As the need for complex functions and an simple machine-human inferface gain force, the need for cost optimised solutions become a necessity. Continental has developed cost-optimised body control units for all car segments. The Basic Function Controller (BFC), presented by Continental in 2008 is not the only one anymore. Together with the ultra-low-cost compact function controller and the high-end advance function controller, Continental now offers versions appropriate to the vehicle architecture of all car segments. While Continental continues to make in roads into low-cost car segments with the BFC, the cost-conscious approach by the German supplier has enabled it to offer the BFC at a price that is up to 30per cent below that of traditional control units of comparable performance and functionality. Added to it th quality people have come to expect from Continental. Two Asian manufacturers -Proton and Geely - have already decided in favour of this flexible, scalable body control unit of the Interior Division, and two more car manufacturers, one in China, one in North America, are planning to install the BFC as standard equipment in the foreseeable future. 

Interestingly, car models fitted with the BFC are manufactured and sold primarily in Asia's emerging markets. There are, however, plans to also export these vehicles to other attractive markets, such as Russia or South America, in the future. With the increasing pressure to rein in costs, Continental has, moreover, noted considerable interest from other manufacturers. Even some big-name German automakers are considering using the BFC to help cut costs in their compact cars without having to cut back on quality or functionality. The electronics level in the emerging markets' low-cost cars corresponds roughly to that of European mid-range cars some fifteen years ago. Typical body electronics functions nowadays include automatic light control, battery protection, remote control for central locking systems, immobiliser, alarm systems and windshield wipers with rain sensor. To be sure, the scope of features in this car segment varies greatly depending on the requirements of the individual market. It is, however, increasing over the long term. 

The BFC is able to meet these requirements thanks to its extreme flexibility and scalability. Functions are, for instance, integrated as software modules only if they are contained in at least 80 per cent of all low-cost cars. Features that are low in demand are integrated into the electronics architecture as self-contained components. The software structure has also been designed in such as way as to support the integration of any extra functions the customer may require, to the extent that the BFC's hardware allows for these. The system does not, therefore, contain any seldom-used components. 

Together with the BFC and Advanced Function Controller, the Compact Function Controller covers all the requirements of modern car architectures. The software features and hardware components of the three controllers all comply with Continental's global quality standards. To guarantee a targeted development process, Continental assigns its own engineers locally to all key customers. They can thus be involved early on in the customers' development processes. Together with local specialist development teams in all the major new markets, this ensures greater proximity to the customer and a speedier response as well as lead times for the launching of series production that are generally less than twelve months. With flexibility as the key, Continental has been offering several options depending on what the customer needs. If he requires an even more powerful hardware to control the different body functions. While option one would be to choose a second BFC and split up functions between two identical controllers, thereby creating a decentralized network, the advantages of this solution are the immediate availability of proven technology, low per-unit costs thanks to larger-quantity orders, and a cost-optimized vehicle electrical system. 

A second option would be to choose Continental's Advanced Function Controller, which has a much wider array of functions and performance offerings. The Advanced Function Controller offers a 32-bit processor rather than the BFC's 8-bit one, twice as many CAN and LIN buses as the Basic version - including a gateway function - and considerably more functionality in the form of more safety and lighting applications, for instance, as well as anti-pinch electric window control. The Advanced Function Controller is, in other words, a high-value solution for upper-end cars. Whether an automaker opts for two BFC or a single Advanced Function Controller depends largely on whether its customers gravitate more toward a lower or higher equipment standard. 

Further on and the German supplier offers a stripped-down, cheaper version of the BFC for ultra-budget-minded customers. This, the Compact Function Controller, is supplied without relays and with a smaller circuit board and housing. In terms of basic structure as well as safety and quality standards, though, it fully adheres to the underlying product philosophy of the BFC. Depending on the specific project, employing the Compact Function Controller instead of the BFC could generate additional savings in the order of 50per cent. Since the Compact Function Controller is still incredibly powerful, it is particularly well suited to cars that, although equipped with a more limited range of functions, must still, for export purposes, be amenable to highly heterogeneous, country-specific rules - a daytime-running-light function, for instance. The Compact Function Controller can, as a result, be used anywhere in the world and is easily adaptable to a given country's specific requirements.