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September 2015 • The PCB Magazine 15 tion; headlights; and electromechanical park- ing brakes. 2. Regulatory compliance electronics: Regu- lated into the vehicle by NHTSA or DOT man- date, it includes airbags: emission controls, backup cameras, and collision detection radar. 3. Differentiating electronics: These are unique, consumer-oriented technologies that are designed to convince consumers to pur- chase the car, including infotainment, adaptive cruise control, Wi-Fi connectivity, and ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems). Diving deeper, there are key opportunities that could bring near-term growth to the PCB industry. "One of the key growth segments hap- pening now is collision detection radar," ex- plains Dave Barrell of Isola. Operated primarily at 77–79GHz, collision detection radar has already been adopted by the European Commission. By November 1, 2015, all new vehicles in Europe will require advanced emergency braking systems of which 79GHz radar is a critical component. What makes t his so interesting is that auto- motive radar is really poised to be the backbone of vehicle automation sensor technology, since many of the other proximity detection systems including, lidar, cameras, and even infrared (IR) will lose sensitivity in low visibility conditions. Radar is immune to many of these issues, and when paired with cameras or lidar, creates a very reliable system. Companies like Rogers Corp. have long focused on these opportunities with PTFE dielectric materials and have strong market share in this arena. New materials from com- panies like Isola with glass-reinforced alterna- tives are rapidly gaining popularity as a way to meet cost and yield demands in the auto sector (Figure 3). Another growth area is the differentiating technology used in the cabin compartment. These include the in-dash display, HUD (heads- up display), and infotainment systems. A signif- icant trend toward full tablet-style touchscreen capability for in-dash systems using dual 17" screens is happening, with Tesla leading the way. Factory-installed HUD systems are already available on some luxury cars and are projected to grow from 3.1M units in 2014 to 33.8M in 2024, according to ABI research. The communication technologies that in- clude GPS, Wi-Fi, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and telematics are the areas that could see signifi- cant growth. Today, Chevrolet leads the Wi-Fi race with nearly all models offering built in Wi- Fi, capable of connecting up to seven devices via 4G LTE. figure 3: freescale 79ghz radar demonstration unit using isola's astra material. FEAturE DETROIT VS. SILICON VALLEy continues