Atmel ATA6286 User Manual
Atmel® offers highly integrated circuits for battery-powered sensor-gauge and base-station applications in
tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). The TPMS product portfolio includes a low-power Flash-micro-
controller RF-transmitter IC family to be used along with separate capacitive pressure or motion sensors,
plus a broad range of standalone RF-transmitter and LF-receiver ICs that can be combined with sepa-
rate microcontroller or smart sensor devices. These TPMS ICs are suitable for temperatures up to 125°C
(extended storage temperatures up to 175°C), and they provide outstanding low current consumption,
which helps the sensor gauges achieve 10-year longevity.
The TPMS portfolio also includes an innovative transparent RF receiver IC family with very fast switch-
ing times between RKE and TPMS signals. These ICs are capable of covering all physical functions
needed for combined TPMS/RKE systems. The polling mode and bit-check functions are carried out by
the fi rmware in a separate microcontroller device such as Atmel’s LIN multichip module ATA6612 with
integrated AVR
®
.
AUTOMOTIVE TPMS
ICs for Tire-pressure Monitoring Systems
About TPMS
Pressure-on-Demand POD System Benefi ts
TPMS systems help to avoid accidents by warning
the driver about status of the tires. TPMS is a vehicleembedded system, which detects the tire pressure by
analyzing the difference between the wheel speeds
(indirect method) or by measuring both temperature
and pressure (direct method).
The indirect method, in existence for over a decade, is
a very low cost method; however, it has many disadvantages, in particular, that it is imprecise i.e., only one
tire defl ation is detectable, feasible only at 30 km/h.
Direct measuring systems, in contrast, precisely
monitor all four tires during parking and driving. The
detection of defl ated tires is possible within a short
learning time. The direct TPMS system consists of a
UHF receiver in the vehicle and four sensor gauges
mounted on the wheel rim/valve to sense data, calibrate pressure versus temperature, and organize
data transmission to the car body.
A POD system includes a 125-kHz built-in channel for waking up sensor modules in defi ned duty
cycles. Such systems remarkably increase the fl exibility of wheel initialization when changing tires by
reprogramming the memory. POD systems also
enable autolocation functionality, i.e., they display the
precise location of a defl ated wheel. The driver can
toggle through different modes at the dashboard.
Display Shows What Happened and Where
Highest Flexibility During Wheel Change
Several Measurement/Transmission Modes
Adjustable Current Consumption
Master/Slave System, i.e., the Sensor Communi-
cation is Controlled to Avoid Malfunction
No Accelerometer in the Sensor Module
Necessary
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