NXP Revs Up Digital Cluster Reference Platform for Two-Wheel Vehicles

An electrification revolution is underway, transforming all sectors of the automotive industry including two-wheeled vehicles ranging from motorcycles to scooters and e-bikes of all classes and price points. While most motorcycles and scooters are powered by traditional internal combustion engines (ICE), electric vehicle (EV) models are becoming increasingly popular with rising fuel prices and consumer preferences for economy and ease of use.

Electric two-wheelers offer safe, easy-to-ride, smart, green and simpler alternatives to ICE-powered motorcycles and scooters. They are convenient to power and easy to connect to intelligent systems, enhancing the rider’s safety and comfort. While basic, low-cost two-wheelers serve the needs of daily commuting in developing parts of the world, high-end electric motorcycles and scooters quench the desire for higher speed, longer range and adventure for riders in affluent markets.

EV companies are actively developing value-added digital features, such as connected digital instrument clusters, to encourage an increasing number of drivers to switch to electric vehicles. Leveraging this shift in the automotive industry, two-wheel vehicle manufacturers are integrating digital clusters into their latest models. The clear, crisp and real-time display of vital information and vehicle parameters, such as road speed, revolutions per minute, location, navigation, ambient temperature and range, helps riders avoid distractions and improves the overall riding experience.

New Reference Platform Eases Development of Two-Wheeler Digital Clusters

To help accelerate the development of full-color thin-film transistor (TFT) displays for two-wheelers, NXP has built a combined digital instrument cluster and connectivity reference platform designed for mass-market two-wheelers, including motorcycles, electric scooters and commuter e-bikes. The reference platform enables high-performance graphics and rich connectivity use cases such as hands-free calling, wireless pairing for smartphone projection, Bluetooth audio/video, over-the-air (OTA) updates, cloud connectivity, fleet management, secure vehicle access and vehicle location.

To deliver a cost-effective system designed to enhance the user experience of two-wheel mobility, the reference platform combines the following NXP components:

• The high-performance i.MX RT1170 crossover microcontroller (MCU)
• The highly integrated AW611 single-chip Wi-Fi^® 6 and Bluetooth^®/Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) audio connectivity solution
• The secure, long-range KW45 wireless access MCU featuring a Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3-compliant radio

Turnkey Reference Platform for Faster, Easier Development

NXP’s connected digital cluster reference platform enables OEMs to deliver essential instrument cluster capabilities for two-wheelers while also supporting a wide variety of connectivity use cases designed to improve the rider experience. Key capabilities include three-way Bluetooth pairing between a smartphone, the digital cluster and headphones; rider and passenger music sharing; and location capabilities such as “find my bike” in a parking lot, phone-based navigation and EV charging statistics.

Hands-Free Calling and Bluetooth Audio

Bluetooth facilitates the connection of the rider’s mobile phone to the two-wheeler digital cluster. Once paired, call logs and contact information can be shared and displayed on the intelligent dashboard, enabling hands-free calling. Message alerts and incoming calls also can be displayed on the screen. While the two-wheeler is stopped or parked, the rider can make outgoing calls by touching the smart dashboard and routing calls through the mobile phone; incoming calls can be accepted or disconnected using the display screen.

Implementing Bluetooth audio enables the rider, as well as the passenger in advanced use cases, to enjoy music streaming. Connectivity from the dashboard to the helmet further enhances the rider experience. Riders also appreciate convenient audio playback capabilities when stuck in traffic or while waiting for the two-wheeler battery to charge.

Secure Two-Wheeler Access

NXP’s KW45 MCU with Bluetooth Low Energy, CAN and integrated secure enclave offers a low-cost connectivity option for secure two-wheeler location tracking and access. In two-wheeler design, one KW45 MCU works with the RT1170 MCU in the instrument cluster while the second KW45 is built into the rider's key fob. The KW45 MCU in the 2-wheeler could pair up with the key fob or even with the smartphone when they’re in close proximity, around three meters. At that time, the rider’s side pings the i.MX RT1170 MCU for sound/light indication, enabling easy spotting of the two-wheeler in a parking lot.

When the KW45 MCU in the two-wheeler digital cluster is registered in popular search applications, riders can use their smartphone to track the location of the two-wheeler on a map and manually trigger the sound/light indication when in close proximity. More advanced use cases include implementing a BLE smart tag tracking feature using global network of smartphones to find a lost or stolen two-wheeler.

Reference Platform Expands Connectivity-Based Capabilities for Two Wheelers

• Receive real-time vehicle information including battery consumption, route, speed and travel distance
• Locate the nearest recharge stations, public parking spaces and other points of interest
• Share updates and alerts supporting the two-wheeler servicing schedule
• Lock and unlock the two-wheeler remotely
• Share safety issues and poor road conditions with traffic management and law enforcement
• Fleet management through the cloud

i.MX RT1170 MCU Brings Advanced Technology to Two-Wheelers

While NXP i.MX applications processors have been widely adopted in the automotive market for years, the i.MX RT1170 crossover MCU is gaining traction in connected digital displays and instrument clusters deployed in low-end cars and two-wheelers. i.MX RT1170 crossover MCUs offer the best of both worlds for vehicle displays: the high performance and integration of a microprocessor with the lower cost, ease of use and real-time functionality of an MCU.

The i.MX RT1170 crossover MCU is the first auto-qualified i.MX RT product with a temperature range from -40 to +125 °C. The feature-rich MCU has two power-efficient Arm^® Cortex^®-M CPU cores and best-in-class multimedia features including a 2D GPU that supports vector graphics and the OpenVG ^™ library. In addition to the RGB display and parallel CMOS sensor camera interface, the i.MX RT1170 supports MIPI CSI and DSI, giving developers more options. The i.MX RT1170 offers various connectivity options with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. As quality-managed (QM) rated devices, the i.MX RT1170 MCUs can support ASIL B automotive safety solutions using additional hardware.

NXP and its ecosystem partners provide comprehensive enablement, helping developers start their designs quickly and transition rapidly to full product development and mass production. The MCUXpresso suite of software and tools provides a unified experience across the NXP i.MX product portfolios.

AW611 Solution Enables Audio Connectivity for Two-Wheelers

The AW611 audio connectivity solution is a highly integrated 2.4/5 GHz dual-band 1x1 Wi-Fi^® 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth^®/Bluetooth Low Energy 5.2 single-chip solution optimized for the automotive market with AEC-Q100 Grade 3 qualification. High integration reduces system costs and external BOM while achieving efficient coexistence between internal and external radios, such as 4G LTE.

The AW611 includes a full-featured Wi-Fi subsystem powered by NXP's 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) technology, bringing higher throughput, better network efficiency, lower latency and improved range over the previous generation. The AW611 also integrates an independent Bluetooth 5.2 subsystem that supports Bluetooth and BLE. The device supports Bluetooth profiles including hands-free profile (HFP), advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP) for audio streaming, and additional profiles such as dual wideband speech (WBS).

KW45 MCU Brings Cost-Effective Bluetooth Connectivity to Two-Wheelers

The reference platform includes the KW45 BLE wireless MCU to deliver secure vehicle access and vehicle location services. The KW45’s three-core architecture integrates a 96 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 application core, a dedicated Cortex-M3 radio core and an isolated EdgeLock^® secure enclave. It also integrates a BLE 5.3-compliant radio that supports up to 24 simultaneous secure connections.

Get Rolling with Your Next Two-Wheeler Connected Digital Cluster Design

Two-wheeler developers can now leverage NXP’s deep expertise in automotive infotainment, TFT display technology and secure connectivity, as well as NXP’s broad portfolio of auto-qualified processors, wireless devices, audio solutions and development tools. NXP’s connected digital cluster reference platform provides the state-of-the-art technologies that underpin the next generation of safe, secure, cost-effective two-wheeler designs. For more information about the reference platform, visit Two-Wheeler Connected Digital Cluster.