As small gasoline engines evolve to use more sophisticated electronic engine controls, new challenges will face the small-engine manufacturers, including constraints in size and cost, as well as having to meet new emission and fuel efficiency standards driven by recent legislation. The rapid miniaturization of electronic components, as a side benefit of the smart-phone and tablet market explosion, will help manufacturers meet these challenges, but new system and circuit topologies will also be required. One of these new topologies is the Multiple Chip Module (MCM). Integration of analog circuits and microcomputers into a single SiP (System in Package) MCM can be a benefit. For small gasoline engine control, additional functionality and performance enhancements can be obtained through the use of software algorithms and calibration tables that are not possible with older mechanical fixed timing architectures. The MCM approach reduces the size and cost of engine controllers while increasing the reliability over discrete component solutions. A single micro-programmable MCM can replace dozens of discrete components and increase design reusability.
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