Rain and Light Sensor

Solutions

The rain and light sensors are small opto-electronic modules typically located in the vehicle’s rearview mirror. Based on incoming sunlight and reflected infrared light flashes, they capture the current driving conditions and provide this information to the body control module over a LIN (Local Interconnect Network) interface. With this information, the driver can be assisted with automated headlight handling, windshield wiping, interior dimming, and HVAC control.

The rain and light sensor chip from onsemi is the only ASSP on the market that was designed for functional safety, or ISO 26262. The device is capable of ASIL B and a full safety plan is available. With easy control via SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) interface, our rain and light sensor requires minimum software overhead and provides more sensor channels with an extremely high dynamic range, creating a high performance and safe solution for modern vehicles. Our device also supports both major sensor module architectures, making it compatible with all module designs.

In addition to the rain and light sensor, onsemi has solutions for battery protection, system basis chips (SBC), and the NPN transistors used in this system.