Sustainable and secure Infineon

SUSTAINABLE AND SECURE

Munich based Infineon Technologies AG is focusing on the three central challenges facing modern society: Energy Efficiency, Mobility and Security.

Infineon offers semiconductors and system solutions for automotive and industrial electronics, and chip card and security applications.Infineon is Germany’s largest and Europe’s second-largest semiconductor company, with production facilities in Europe and Asia. With more than 26,000 employees, in 2011 Infineon generated a €4 billion turnover. With more than 20 R&D locations, over 15,000 patents and patent applications have been produced. Infineon is listed in the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Kay Laudien, Senior Director Media Relations, discussed the company’s solutions: its XMC4000 microcontroller and Integrity Guard security technology.

Kay Laudien says: “Infineon’s Integrity Guard security technology offers long lasting protection for sensitive data for identification documents with high demands on security and robustness. It is setting a new benchmark for secure electronic documents. With this technology, microcontrollers are equipped with full on-chip encryption over the core architecture and data path. The security controller core has two processing units, constantly checking each other’s correct functioning by utilising sophisticated error detection.”

Integrity Guard

Nowadays governments set high standards for electronic ID documents. Infineon’s highly secure SLE 78 product family with Integrity Guard is used in all-important eGovernment applications, such as the electronic health cards, the electronic identification cards and passports and in residence permits with biometric data.

XMC4000

Infineon’s XMC4000 microcontroller family is the benchmark for actuator and sensor control combined with industrial communication. It scales with five product series in eight packages, from 64kB to 2.5MB flash, and is optimised for inverter control in electric drives and renewable energy systems.

The XMC4000 family has up to four fast 12-bit ADC modules achieving four Mega samples per second (interleaved mode) and offering autonomous post-processing functions to off-load the CPU. For lowest system cost XMC4000 devices host an integrated ΔΣ demodulator eliminating the need for an external demodulator IC.

Kay Laudien: “With the XMC4000 and the Integrity Guard we can continue to hold top positions in all of our target markets: the automotive, the industrial, the power and the chip card and security market.”

Automotive

Infineon is the world’s second-largest chip supplier to the automotive industry. Infineon’s Automotive Division supplies the automotive industry with sensors, microcontrollers, power

semiconductors and power modules that contribute to a more sustainable mobility in terms of reduced fuel consumption and emissions, improved safety and affordability.

Applications include engine and transmission controllers for hybrids, starter alternators, electromechanical valve-trains, light controllers, and tools for safety management such as electronic power steering, collision avoidance, anti-lock brake system, airbag, stability control and tyre pressure monitoring.

Power Control

The Industrial Power Control Division concentrates on electrical drives and renewables. This primarily encompasses components for drives in industrial applications, such as machines or locomotives, and energy generation components in solar or wind power plants.

The Power Management and Multimarket Division focuses on components for efficient power management or high-frequency applications. The components are mainly used in computing (server, notebooks, PC) lighting and metering products, solar inverters, gaming and mobile devices as well as in wireless base stations.

Infineon delivers semiconductor innovations that play a valuable role in minimising power loss and maximising power savings along the entire energy supply chain, from generation through distribution to actual consumption.

Chip Card and Security

Infineon has been the world market leader in chips for card applications for fifteen years in a row and continues to pioneer new technologies in the field of chipbased security.

Infineon provides security chips for passports, identity cards and contactless payment cards and is the leading supplier of chips for credit cards, access cards and trusted computing solutions worldwide.

Infineon’s Chip Card and Security Division has helped to improve data security in today’s information society. As users become ever more mobile, demand for advanced security solutions is continuously rising. Infineon has the industry’s largest portfolio of chips and interfaces to meet the relevant security requirements in these areas.

The company has seen turnover in Europe as a whole and Germany growing in 2011 from 46–48 per cent and from 26–27 per cent respectively, which can be interpreted as a good sign for the returning growth of the European economy as a whole. Sustainable manufacturing

Infineon’s sustainable manufacturing has been a benchmark. The company saved electricity equal to the annual consumption of a city with 1.7 million inhabitants and achieved its voluntary agreement to reduce Kyoto gases (PFC) three years earlier than the global target of the semi-conductor manufacturing industry.

Infineon consumed around 70 per cent less water per sqcm manufactured wafer than the global benchmark average, and generated around 51 per cent less waste per sqcm manufactured wafer than the global benchmark average. n