FRANKFURT, Germany, September 15, 2009 – TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW) will demonstrate how it can offer customers greater value through sensor integration and simplifying electronics architecture within vehicles at the 2009 IAA Exhibition.

Martin Thoone, vice president engineering, Electronics said: "Integration is a core part of TRW's strategy and we are continually working to develop smarter products which will help to reduce complexity, installation effort, weight, packaging and ultimately cost for our customers – in addition to improving functionality in some instances. With the broadest portfolio of active and passive safety products in the industry, TRW is well placed to maximize all integration opportunities.

“Today's electronic architecture is highly distributed and complexity is ever increasing with up to 70 ECUs in some vehicles. The industry needs to find smarter ways to further integrate active and passive systems and add value to vehicle manufacturers as the rate of electronics growth continues to accelerate.”

The Company is highlighting a number of new technologies which support its integration strategy within three paths: Airbag Control Unit (ACU)-centric, Electronic Stability Control (ESC)-centric integration and Data Fusion. These concepts can be extended with driver assistance sensors such as radar and cameras to augment both performance and functionality.

ACU Integration

TRW has launched its next generation integrated airbag control unit (ACU) which allows for the integration of the inertial sensors in addition to frontal, side and rollover airbag sensors. This technology is due to start production with a major vehicle manufacturer in 2012.

Hans-Gerd Krekels, global portfolio director, TRW Integrated Electronics added: “Traditionally, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems have been introduced with stand alone inertial sensing units. To enhance value, our integrated ACU product presents a viable way to reduce the number of ECUs in the vehicle while retaining the performance of the ESC system.”

In addition, TRW has also developed a value line version of its second generation active seatbelt retractor product, 'Active Control Retractor 2 Basic' (ACR2 Basic). ACR2 Basic offers a simplified electronic architecture due to its integration with the airbag control unit.

Finally, within its ACU integration strategy, TRW is developing its ‘initial Safety Domain ECU’ (i-SDE) concept which is based on TRW’s next airbag platform - designed with maximum flexibility to allow for the integration of a range of electronic control functions for active and passive safety.

Krekels added: “The i-SDE acts as a chassis and safety control centre – housing crash algorithms and vehicle dynamics arbitration software to optimize the interaction between active systems such as ESC and EPS as well as passive systems such as airbags and seatbelts.”

ESC Integration

TRW has developed a new slip control unit with integrated inertial sensors which mitigates many of the interface and organizational issues of integrating signals from stand alone inertial sensor modules. This approach eliminates many components and can thereby realize significant cost savings.

A further example is TRW’s recently announced integrated Electric Park Brake (EPBi) system which also eliminates the need for a separate ECU due to its integration with the ESC system. In addition to realizing cost savings, EPBi also offers enhanced functionality as it can seamlessly integrate the functionality of an electric park brake with a hydraulic service brake in order to optimize features such as drive away assist and hill hold.

Data Fusion

Finally, TRW is a leading expert on data fusion. The integration of active and passive systems offers significant potential to enhance safety and optimize functionality while working toward a single safety domain ECU.

Krekels continued: “Combining data provided through various sensors (radar, camera, digital map) situated around the vehicle can provide an enhanced picture of the environment and potentially mitigate the severity of an impact when a collision is unavoidable. For instance, combining camera and radar with electronic stability control can provide Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). Furthermore, fusing input from radar sensors with Pressure Satellites or Remote Acceleration Sensors located at the sides of the vehicle can significantly enhance the performance of airbags (time to fire) and potentially lessen the severity of a crash.

“TRW’s detailed knowledge of advanced sensor electronics combined with its solid experience of actuation - vehicle control systems and occupant protection systems -positions us well to support our customers in the area of intelligent safety. These are ideal examples of Cognitive Safety Systems that are constantly sensing the environment, analyzing the situation and acting in the most appropriate way to help keep drivers and passengers safer.”