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Auto Industry's Fastest Processor Is 128Mhz

Posted by kdawson on from the hot-in-here-or-is-it-me dept.

afabbro writes "GM stated that the 2011 Buick Regal will have the auto industry's fastest processor: 128Mhz, and 3MB of flash. 'Three meg of flash memory and 128MHz clock speed doesn't sound like a lot in terms of computing power until you consider the environment these controllers have to live in. Our controllers are made to operate reliably up to 260 degrees (127C) and down to -40 degrees (-40C) for the life of the vehicle.'"

5 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Measurement Fail by jx100 · · Score: 4, Informative

    -40F is equal to -40C

  2. Re:not fastest by omglolbah · · Score: 4, Informative

    Your GPS unit is not an "automotive cpu"... It is a consumer product fitted into a car.

    The automative processor is what controls your fuel injection, ABS and other such functions.

    There is a world of difference between the two.

  3. Re:This is cool, but not revolutionary... by SirThe · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, the reason people don't have old PCs is because they break down, not because newer and better technology comes out.

  4. Re:This is cool, but not revolutionary... by Dahamma · · Score: 5, Informative

    Other plants can be used to make ethanol, but it's not being done widely

    Sure it is. Brazil has been producing efficient sugarcane-based ethanol for decades, and now accounts for almost 40% of the world's ethanol fuel production. Not that it matters much to the US, because of the quotas and massive tariffs to protect the crappy corn ethanol industry...

  5. Re: Transmissions and extreme cold by shking · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've seen all kinds of cars and tractors start in temperatures getting near or below -40 degrees. Some times that meant the transmission got busted.

    As a teenager in northern Canada, I learned that you need to warm up the transmission as well as the engine in extreme cold. A friend of my dad's forgot this lesson and and had to replace his car's automatic transmission.

    In extreme cold, you can protect your transmission by putting it in neutral for a few minutes. This gets the transmission oil moving (and warming) without engaging more delicate mechanical parts. Do not leave an automatic transmission in "Park".

    BTW - While several minutes of idling in neutral during EXTREME cold conditions are required to warm the transmission, 90 seconds of idling is all your engine needs. Any extra idling time is for only for the driver's comfort (i.e. warms up the cars interior )

    --
    -- "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1" -- PC Magazine, Nov. 1994