NXP Semiconductors – only one year old and already an old hand
A year ago, the whole sector watched Eindhoven inquisitively as the independent company NXP Semiconductors was created from the former Philips semiconductor division. Would the spectacular spin-off live up to the great expectations that had been placed on it? Around twelve months later, it is not difficult to answer this question! The clear focus on the target markets Mobile & Personal, Home, Identification, Automotive and Multimarket got NXP Semiconductors off to a dream start. NXP is relying on strong partners, such as the traditional but modern SPOERLE company to operate in close proximity to customers on these markets in the future.
Just in time for the 2006 IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Frans van Houten, former director of Philips Semiconductors, now CEO of NXP, announced that the semiconductor division that had been separated from the Philips Group would be operating under the name of NXP in the future. “’NXP’ stands for Next eXPerience. In general parlance: we make the next generation of electronic entertainment products possible,” said van Houten, explaining the new name. The add-on to the name, “Founded by Philips”, shall highlight the rich experience that the company gained during the 53 years that it was part of the Philips Group. NXP develops innovative semiconductor products, system solutions and software for use in mobile communications, entertainment electronics, security and identification technology, as well as in-car entertainment and automotive networking. With 37,000 employees and sales of over 5 billion Euros, NXP is the second largest semiconductor company in Europe, and is one of the top 10 players in the world.
Target markets and business unitsNXP regards itself as an innovation company. Its business strategy includes holding a leading position in the markets of Mobile & Personal, Home, Identification, Automotive and Multimarket Semiconductors markets. To achieve this, the company is organised into several business units, and invests around one billion Euros in research and development (6,700 scientists and technicians are employed in this section alone). Besides this, NXP implements an “asset light” strategy in production.
| > | Mobile & Personal NXP’s leading mobile “Nexperia” multimedia solutions support all imaginable applications in the Mobile & Personal sector, ranging from high-end smartphones and low-budget mobiles, mobile TV, connectivity (Bluetooth, WLAN, UMA), games, MP3 audio, MPEG-4 video and digital imaging to GPS-supported local services. |
| > | Home NXP home solutions and audio/video components are also based on “Nexperia”, and allow for innovative embedded multimedia features and network-compatible multimedia applications. NXP thus provides the technological foundations for home entertainment of the highest standard. |
| > | Identification Thanks to its contactless technology, NXP is in a leading market position for RFID applications, electronic ticketing on local public transport and contactless identification of electronic passports. NXP also played a crucial role in developing Near Field Communication (NFC), a transmission standard for the contactless exchange of data over short distances. |
| > | Automotive Nexperia-based processors for automotive applications permit solutions which are equivalent in terms of picture and sound quality to modern home entertainment systems. In addition to numerous products for CAN and LIN, NXP also provides in-vehicle networking technology using the latest FlexRay chips, which make cars even more comfortable and safer. Last but not least, car drivers can ensure that car thieves have their work cut out, thanks to NXP’s remote or keyless locking solutions. |
| > | Multimarket Semiconductors NXP is one of the leading providers of multimarket semiconductor products in the sector. Its comprehensive product portfolio ranges from basic components, such as timers and amplifiers to microcontrollers and sophisticated ICs for media processing, wireless connections and broadband communications. |
Innovation stimulus is not only defined and driven by the strategically leading companies in the five sectors named. The broad customer base in the distribution sector deals with modern and extremely diverse applications, in particular. This clientele expects the distributor to provide a high level of competent technical support to be able to implement individual ideas.
In addition to technical skills in distribution, value-added ser-vices are also becoming increasingly important. Furthermore, the development of new markets, such as those in Central Eastern Europe, offers great opportunities for all the members of the supply chain. A leading semiconductor company such as NXP thus works in partnership with competent distributors in order to be able to respond to current developments. The partnership between the companies is based on a more than 30-years partnership with Philips Semiconductors, which began in 1973. Starting with passive components in its product range, Philips Semiconductors quickly became one of the key semiconductor manufacturers in the supply sector. NXP has now taken over this role, without compromising on product quality or cooperation. SPOERLE field application engineers, who receive intensive training from NXP, and a representative with specific responsibility for high-end products provide customers with new product designs and developments. Meeting customers’ needs in terms of future technical innovations is a matter of course. One example of this is the new FlexRay technology.
The rapid increase in electronic control systems, as well as convenience and security equipment in vehicles, calls for more and more efficient network technology. Whilst today’s in-vehicle networking applications are based on CAN and LIN, experts predict that FlexRay will replace at least CAN in the medium-term. FlexRay is the next generation of automotive control bus, which was initiated by a consortium founded by BMW, Daimler Chrysler, Freescale and NXP in 2000. Over 120 other companies have joined the FlexRay Consortium during the last six years.
FlexRay is fault-tolerant and provides all the prerequisites for precise high-speed interactions between connected units with a bandwidth of 10 MBit/s and a deterministic communication protocol. FlexRay also allows for a great deal of freedom in network topology, from linear node, passive star and active star through to the combinations of these topologies. Using FlexRay networks not only enables automotive manufacturers to significantly improve the performance and reliability of existing functions; it also enables them to introduce additional features (that would not be possible with CAN).
With the transceiver TJA1080, NXP already offers fully-tested FlexRay product that comply with or exceed the FlexRay V2.1 standard. The most famous representative of the use of FlexRay as standard is the latest BMW X5, which uses NXP FlexRay chips for the adaptive drive system. Thanks to FlexRay, adaptive drive can process and transmit large quantities of data on changes in driving and road conditions very quickly for the dynamic control of anti-roll bars and shock absorbers.
NXP has provided a full overview of its solutions for automotive networking standards in the brochure:
© SPOERLE 2008