BMW X5 Sports FlexRay Technology

Freescale and BMW Group implement FlexRay™ technology in BMW’s new X5 Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV). BMW’s adoption of FlexRay technology is expected to give drivers access to unprecedented handling and stability control capabilities based on FlexRay’s capacity to transfer data rapidly between networked control devices and systems in an automobile.

With the simple press of a button, drivers of the new BMW X5 can choose a sporting or comfortable ride on the fly. This innovative technology is the cornerstone of BMW’s AdaptiveDrive feature, which gives drivers a combination of Active Roll Stabilization and Electronic Damping Control.

Freescale is currently the only semiconductor supplier that has FlexRay microcontrollers (MCUs) in a production-ready automobile. Freescale’s 32-bit FlexRay MCUs announced this year help enable 10Mbit/s bandwidth for communication between systems for such automotive applications as active and passive safety, collision avoidance, powertrain management and driver assistance.

The new BMW X5 will be launched in North America at the end of November 2006. It will be available in other markets worldwide in spring 2007.