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In automotive instrument panel clusters (IPC) or driver information systems (DIS), distance-to-empty (DTE, also termed as range) is a critical function that indicates the distance the vehicle can travel under its average fuel economy and the available fuel. It is typically calculated from odometer data (accumulated counts), fuel consumption data and fuel level information (typically resistive type input) from fuel sender in the vehicle tank unit. Robust computation and display of DTE is important for reliable driver information. However, it offers certain technical challenges to an automotive system designer. This paper investigates the challenges in an automotive vehicle use-case and proposes the gist of an adaptive algorithm to robustly compute and display DTE.

All automotive ECUs are required to be designed for manufacturability. Sufficient support in the ECU product design needs to be incorporated early in the product life cycle for the product to be successfully and efficiently manufactured, necessitating serial communication capability in the design. However, in low-cost automotive Instrument Clusters the customer requirements for the product typically do not encapsulate serial communication, and the ECU is not required to support repair/rework out of field rejection. This paper delineates the said need, examines the challenges for manufacturability of low-cost Instrument Clusters and proposes a plausible design strategy to help the issue with a use-case instance.