The 2011 Buick Regal, which is based on Germany’s Opel Insignia, will sport a new 32-bit processor that optimizes fuel economy and emissions. Buick says it is currently the fastest processor used in a car at this time.
E39 module with Qorivva MPC5566 processor
The 128 MHz E39 engine control module is built into Regals with the regular 2.0 liter engine, which delivers 220 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. According to GM, the module is based on Freescale’s Qorivva MPC5566 processor enables a throughput of 125 million operations per second (MIPS) to enable “an increased number of intake air adjustments and spark optimization during every combustion event, even when running at maximum engine speed of 6350 rpm.” The software that goes along with the task is rather substantial as it uses about 1 million lines of code that are stored in 3 MB of flash memory.
125 MIPS isn’t much in today’s computer world, though – as long as you consider your desktop PC, for example. 125 MIPS is about in the range of the processor used in the 1996 Nintendo 64 game console and is somewhere between a Pentium 66 and Pentium 90, which were produced in 1993. Today, processors exceed these levels by far: Intel’s hexacore Core i7 processors are rated at up to 13,000 MIPS. Both the iPhone 4 A4 processor as well as the 1 GHz Snapdragon smartphone processor hit more than 2000 MIPS, while Intel’s (1.6 GHz) Atom CPU is rated at about 3800 MIPS.
However, GM said its E39 is an extremely durable chip that works reliable in a temperature range between 260 and -40 degrees F over the entire lifetime of the vehicle. The chip is also “ sealed against air, water, dust and electromagnetic interference.” GM also noted that the first powertrain controllers it used in the 1980s were capable of 1 MIPS and used 4 KB of memory.
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