The paper won the award based on surveys completed by conference attendees, in which M31 discussed about automotive market applications, failure modes and probabilities, C/D-PHY combo circuit architecture and efficacy analysis.

Almost every smartphone uses the MIPI high-speed interface transmission specification. Automotive electronics with high growth potential will be an important application market for MIPI in the future. The car has become a "smartphone with wheels." MIPI has been verified in handheld device applications for interface specifications, including sensor interface (I3C), camera interface (CSI-2), and display interface (DSI/DSI-2), which have been used in automotive infotainment, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and various safety systems. Besides, MIPI's low electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristic is also an advantage for safety-sensitive automotive applications.

As a member of the MIPI Alliance and a leading interface IP vendor, M31 develops C-PHY/D-PHY combo, D-PHY, and M-PHY, which is a series of high-speed, low-power consumption, and low-cost IP with real silicon-proven data. The involved chip process nodes are TSMC 12nm, 16nm, 22nm, 28nm, 40nm. IC design engineers can configure the PHY into D-PHY mode or C-PHY mode to support different applications with the same PHY. In addition, it is compliant with the PPI interface, which enables seamless integration with upside controllers for Camera Serial Interface (CSI-2) and Display Serial Interface (DSI) protocols.

Compared with mobile device applications, automotive electronics have to withstand a harsher operating environment (with high temperature, high humidity, and strong static electricity). Therefore, various safety and reliability concerns shall be considered in its design, and the strict safety certification is a must to have. In 2018, M-PHY was immediately adopted by first-tier European/American automotive electronics manufacturers after completing the ISO 26262 certification. Its application areas include infotainment and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

In 2019, MIPI D-PHY also passed the ISO 26262 certification successfully. M31’s technical cogitation and innovation of “exploring a new era of combining MIPI and automotive electronics" have received overwhelming customer recognition. Furthermore, M31 will keep developing more advanced and efficient automotive MIPI interface IP to provide customers with comprehensive solutions.