Interview _ Director Youngkyun Choi / Maxim Integrated

When you think of Maxim Integrated, the first thing that comes to mind is power . In particular, Maxim's high-efficiency power design technology is famous in the consumer sector, including mobile .

There is another one . As the company name suggests, ' Maxim ' specializes in integration . When introducing the company, the company is described as “ a company leading analog integration … providing smaller, smarter , and more energy-efficient analog semiconductor solutions to various industries . ”

Maxim has been expanding its reach into the automotive market for over 10 years to fully utilize its strengths and specialties . It chose the automotive market early on to break away from its existing mobile-centered portfolio .

The strategy is to apply Maxim's solutions, which have been verified by consumers, to automotive products to provide reliability while reducing product risks . Director Youngkyun Choi, who is in charge of the automotive business at Maxim Integrated Korea, also emphasized the automotive strategy that leverages Maxim's strengths throughout the interview .

- It seems that surprisingly many people do not know that Maxim has been in the automotive business for over 10 years.

As you know , what Maxim is good at is 'integration' . It can apply the technology that has been recognized in the consumer field . As a result , it has grown by 25% every year for the past 10 years, and it is an area in which the company continues to invest .

- What products are you making in the automotive field ?

It is divided into four levels . Infotainment , Safety , Powertrain , Access/Body , etc. For infotainment, we provide sensors , power , and GMSL for automobiles, and for safety, we have HD camera interfaces and LED lighting solutions . For powertrain, we mainly provide battery management solutions (BMS) , and for Access/Body, we have solutions such as smart keys and remote keyless entry .

- The automotive business was classified into ‘3C’ .

These are the ‘3Cs’ of Clean, Conscious, and Connected . Clean emphasizes environmentally friendly aspects such as electric vehicle solutions , Conscious emphasizes safety such as ADAS ( Driver Assistance Systems ) , and Connected covers infotainment and smart keys .

I think Maxim has a strength, especially in the area of connected devices, because it is a field that Maxim has always excelled in . In terms of specific products, we have products such as LED, USB (infotainment), hybrid radio , active antenna , powertrain , display lighting , cameras , smart keys , and sensors .

- Please explain with specific examples how you emphasize integration as an advantage .

Since we are a semiconductor company that is good at integration , our goal in automobiles is also integration . Our strength is providing integrated ICs that fit the application that customers want . For example , we can create a single PMIC that covers the power of the SoC and also provides power to the surroundings . In other words, you can cover the power by putting only one IC in the head unit .

-ADAS has emerged as one of the core areas of automotive . What ADAS solutions does Maxim provide ?

In terms of market size in the automotive sector, Body and Engine are the largest , but the fastest growing sectors are ADAS and HEV/EV . Maxim is also focusing on ADAS and HEV/EV . In terms of ADAS, it mainly provides camera-based solutions . Since Maxim is an analog company, you can think of it as providing all the remaining solutions except for products such as SoCs and signal processors .

- How are Maxim’s integration advantages applied to ADAS ?

In the existing system, ADAS solutions were built with various discrete components . When configuring the system, a board the size of a palm was used, but recently, it has been reduced to the size of a business card .

For example, if you look at the existing vision system, a total of 8 ICs are used to connect 4 cameras , including the serializer and deserializer in the signal interface . It is a complex system that uses FPGA inside and then uses Serdes to pass the signal to the head unit, but Maxim provides the chip on the deserialization side integrated into a single chip . The system becomes extremely lightweight .

- Why Maxim in ADAS ?

Ultimately, ADAS is a safety-related solution . That's why we focus on safety . Since Maxim provides system-level solutions, we can provide solutions tailored to the products of SoC companies we partner with . By attaching Maxim solutions to each SoC , we can operate the complete product .

- What is the direction of Maxim GMSL technology ?

The method proposed by Maxim is GMSL technology . That is, it is a gigabit multimedia signal link method, and Maxim is moving towards serial link GMSL . Ethernet has recently become an issue, and it seems that both have advantages and disadvantages . On the display side, serial links are dominant . Even among OEMs, the display side is in favor of serial links .

- What are the advantages of MAX9286 in surround view systems ?

The ECU is the main topic of the surround view system . The key is how light it can be . The surround monitor system inside the ECU has been integrated into a single IC . A single IC can receive the serial links of 4 cameras and can output CSI- level output . This will lower the system price and shorten the design time . We are currently discussing with domestic companies to apply this solution , and commercial vehicles are scheduled to be released first in Europe next year .