AutoChips and X-FAB Launch Mass Production of China’s First TPMS Chipset

Hefei, China and Tessenderlo, Belgium – November 28, 2019

AutoChips Inc., China’s foremost automotive electronics chip design company (and wholly-owned subsidiary of NavInfo), in partnership with X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE, the leading analog/mixed-signal and MEMS foundry, has successfully initiated volume production of a highly advanced Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) chipset. The automotive-grade AC5111 chipset has been fully designed in-house by AutoChips’ skilled engineering team and is being manufactured at X-FAB’s state-of-the-art MEMS facility, in Erfurt, Germany. Orders for the MEMS-based chipset equating to tens of thousands of pieces have already been received.

Studies have shown that 70% of highway traffic accidents in China are caused by tire punctures. When the air pressure of the tire is 10% lower than the normal value, its lifespan is reduced by 15% to 20%, and vehicle fuel consumption per kWh increases by 260ml. Based on these figures, China’s Standardization Administration has made it mandatory for all vehicles built from January 2020 onwards to incorporate TPMS technology.

AutoChip’s AC5111 is a highly integrated AEC-Q100-compliant chipset with six functional elements -

including an enhanced low power consumption microcontroller, a pressure sensor, temperature sensor and an accelerometer, as well as Radio Frequency (RF) and Low Frequency (LF) functions. It is China’s first self-designed, full-feature, single-chip TPMS solution to reach mass production.

”High quality, high reliability and comprehensive functions are regarded as the core aspects of competitiveness for AutoChips, and these are enabling us to become China’s new force in automotive semiconductor products,” states Wan Tiejun, General Manager of AutoChips. “As the only domestic TPMS

chipset to integrate six core technologies, test results have shown that the AC5111 can match competitors’ products in terms of performance and power consumption, and having access to X-FAB’s MEMS expertise has been absolutely pivotal here.”

“We are very pleased to be helping AutoChips in its efforts to gain further traction in the constantly-growing Chinese domestic automotive market. We hope that this cooperation will open new opportunities for both companies in the future,” added X-FAB’s CEO Rudi De Winter.

AutoChips’ next-generation TPMS chipset is already under development, along with a series of other product innovations.