Control units/ Vehicle control

Transmission & Vehicle Control Unit

A combined unit for transmission control and vehicle-level torque and powertrain coordination. Separate execution units and an external supervisor keep it safe without giving up speed.

Send a request Specification

14
Solenoid drivers: 4 × 12 A
H-bridge: 3
CAN: 7–32 V
Supply

Application areas

What it is used for

Shift and clutch control

Fourteen protected low-side drivers in four current classes for pressure and shift solenoids.

Actuators

Four 12 A H-bridges for shift actuators, throttle bodies and motorised valves, plus two 7.5 A high-side drivers.

Torque coordination

One CPU for the transmission and one for the vehicle, so torque requests and drive modes are arbitrated at the actuators.

Functional safety

Lockstep core, an external supervisor and safety-critical inputs on a dual ADC.

Vehicle dynamics

On-board accelerometer, gyroscope and barometric sensor, no extra sensors needed.

Network and wake

Three CAN, two LIN and two SENT channels; wakes on ignition or on CAN.

Specification

Transmission & Vehicle Control Unit

What this configuration adds to the common powertrain platform, listed further down.

Request the hardware guide

Solenoid control: 14 × low-side drivers in 7.2 A, 1.75 A, 1.5 A and 0.75 A classes, PWM to 15 kHz, clamped at 30 V and short-circuit protected
Shift actuation: 4 × H-bridge outputs to 12 A, 25 kHz, for shift actuators, throttle bodies and motorised valves
High-side loads: 2 × high-side drivers, 7.5 A nominal, 0.009 Ω on-resistance
Spare drivers: With no injectors to drive, the 16 port-injector and 10 direct-injector channels are general-purpose outputs: low-side throughout, high-side on the direct-injector channels
Safety core: Two CPUs, one for transmission and one for vehicle control, with lockstep core execution
Supervision: External supervisor over the execution units; safety-critical analogue inputs on a dual ADC
Fluid temperature: 12 × thermistor inputs for transmission fluid, oil and cooling circuits
Vehicle dynamics: On-board 3-axis accelerometer and gyroscope; barometric sensor, 40–115 kPa at ±1.0 kPa
Vehicle network: 3 × CAN (ISO 11898), 2 × LIN (ISO 17987), 2 × SENT (SAE J2716); 120 Ω termination as a board option. A hardware option reconfigures four digital inputs as SENT receivers: 12 digital in and 6 SENT
Wake: Ignition (kl15) wake-up input or wake on CAN; stays operational after the input returns low

Hardware

The unit

Altech control unit seen from an angle, with its two sealed connectors and the mounting bushes beside it

Altech control unit, front view, with both harness connectors mated

Common powertrain platform

Engine, transmission and vehicle control on one board

The Engine Management System and the Transmission & Vehicle Control Unit are configurations of the same board — one toolchain, one connector, one spare part.

Processor: Automotive MCU at 264 MHz, two cores, lockstep on one
Memory: 8 MB flash, 512 KB RAM
Supply: 7–32 V operating, 36 V maximum; 12 V and 24 V variants configured in hardware
Connector: 186-circuit Molex Compactus sealed hybrid, split 114 + 72, in 2.8 / 1.0 / 0.5 mm terminals
Sensor supply: 3 × 5 V rails at 250 mA, continuously monitored by the MCU
Communication: 3 × CAN, 2 × LIN, 2 × SENT. A hardware option trades four digital inputs for SENT receivers: 12 digital in and 6 SENT
Protection: Every input and output is ESD and overvoltage protected; drivers are voltage-clamped and short-circuit protected
Diagnostics: Output stages are diagnosed in hardware and report faults to the control software
Angle control: Injector, ignition and 1.75 A low-side outputs time to crank angle, as do the crank-referenced digital inputs

Included

Ships with CalTool

Every Transmission & Vehicle Control Unit comes with its A2L file, an XCP slave and a CalTool licence, so calibration, logging, diagnostics and flashing are covered from day one.

About CalTool User guide (PDF)