Infotainment systems within a vehicle have made our drives happier and easier. From music players to advanced smart vehicle support, automotive infotainment systems have come a long way. Today they are capable of playing movies to audio books of your choice, to scheduling meetings, catching up with calls, to even predicting the weather of your destination; you can manage myriads of activities with a few touches.

What are Infotainment Systems?

Infotainment system, as the name suggests, is a mix of information and entertainment. The features of each system are identified based on the model of the vehicle which is generally tied to the amount you are willing to spend. While Bluetooth connectivity, navigation, audio, and video features are standard to any base model, advanced features like traffic updates, and parking lot, fuel station, and charging station indicators are value addition to high end models.

From tiny buttons and knobs on the steering control to voice-activated control systems designed into the dashboard, the functional operations in infotainment are also getting leveled up. These systems are generally made with intricate electronic components for enhanced data, power, and signal connectivity. The components make it possible to evolve the technology beyond the simple information-and-entertainment-hub concept to becoming a crucial part of the vehicle architecture.

Amphenol Solutions for Infotainment

Amphenol provides a range of connectors for automotive infotainment and navigation applications such as telematics, multimedia, GPS navigation, and camera components. Compliant to USCAR-2, NETBridge+™ Automotive Ethernet Connector System is designed for automotive applications and offers high data rate transmission of up to 10Gb/s. Offered in miniaturized and sealed configurations these connectors are designed to support the most advanced automotive infotainment applications.
Our HSBridge+ connectors come with automotive-grade USB Type C interface. These connectors have headers compliant to USCAR-30 USB and are performance-tested according to USCAR-2. They are an ideal solution for in-vehicle connections with high data rates up to 5Gb/s supporting advanced infotainment, telematics and camera devices across the automotive and commercial vehicle industries.
We also have high speed input output form factors like standard USB Type C on USB2.0/3.0/3.1 protocols helping to connect the automobile to high bandwidth personal infotainment devices, with USB 3.1 Gen 2 variant delivering twice the data transfer rate of SuperSpeed USB, with an added advantage of highly improved power efficiency. We also have Micro USB 2.0 connectors to suit other infotainment requirements.

Today, connected car technology is greatly in trend, in which a car is capable of connecting with other cars and other smart things outside the vehicle. The infotainment devices within the cars are also greatly influenced by this technology. Most of this internet connectivity occurs through SIM card holders integrated into the head unit of the vehicle. Amphenol has a range of memory media connectors and advanced SIM card connectors suited to this purpose.

Our high speed flex connectors in different pitch sizes go into monitors and other output units of the infotainment and navigation systems of modern vehicles. High-speed FPC provides a low profile and compact solution while maintaining high-speed signal integrity.

Apart from these, we offer a wide range of board-to-board and wire-to-board connectors that support various components of automotive infotainment, among which Minitek MicroSpace™ Crimp-to-Wire connector is a great choice. Their unique design enables LV214 Severity-2 automotive standard and comes in 1.8, 1.5 and 1.27mm pitch. Moreover, this vibration-tolerant product is marked by its high connector locking strength of more than 75N. We also have the advanced Minitek MicroSpaceXS™ version that meets LV214 Severity-3 and USCAR-T2V2 specifications.

Read more on our comprehensive interconnect solutions that take automotive infotainment to next level!