IHS Insight Perspective
NEXIQ Wireless Vehicle Link 2 is an automotive interface device that's designed to wirelessly connect an external computer to a vehicle's onboard computer for diagnostics purposes. This device is fully compliant to the Technology and Maintenance Council's RP1210a/b standards. It links vehile computer via a 15-pin serial connector and communicates with a PC through 4-pin USB connector or IEEE802.11b/g WLAN Module.
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Per NEXIQ, the main features of WVL2 are:
• Provides up to 300 ft. of wireless freedom
• Comes with a 15 ft. USB cable (for connectivity and backup)
• Solves mixed-fleet challenges with broad protocol support
• Minimizes investment in multiple brand-specific diagnostic interfaces
COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE:
• Detroit Diesel Diagnostic Link™ (DDDL)
• Navistar® ServiceMaxx
• Caterpillar® Electronic Technician
• Cummins® INSITE™
• V-MAC III Service Diagnostic
• PTT/VCADS 1.12 (Mack and Volvo)
• Navistar® Diamond Logic Builder (DLB)
• Freightliner ServiceLink
• Meritor WABCO HABS
• Bendix® ACom™ Diagnostics
PROTOCOL SUPPORT:
• J1708
• J1587
• Two - J1939/ISO 15765/CAN
• J1850 (VPW and PWM)
• ISO 9141/KW2000
• ALDL
Design Significance
At the core of this device is the Freescale (MPC5200CVR400B) 32-Bit MCU, and Microchip (PIC18F65J10-I/PT) 8-Bit MCU. This device also has a Silex Technology IEEE802.11b/g WLAN Modules which features Qualcomm Atheros (AR2413A) WLAN solution. It also contains 3 memory components - (2x) Micron 256Mb DDR, and Micron 128Mb NOR Flash, along with a number of discrete I/O components such as NXP USB Controller, Freescale Serial Link Interface, TI RS-485/422 Transceiver, and NXP CAN Transceiver.
Target Market
Automotive after-market
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Unknown
Pricing and Availability
$745 to $920 USD
The lowest e-tailer price found at the time of this analysis was $745 USD.
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This device is believed to be available worldwide
Volume Estimations
7,500 Annual Units
5 Total Years
For the purposes of this teardown analysis, we have assumed an Annual Production Volume of 7500 units and a Product Lifetime Volume of 5 year(s).
Teardown volume and production assumptions are primarily used for our cost analysis in terms of amortized NRE and tooling costs, especially for custom components specific to the model being analyzed (mechanical components especially). Unless assumed volumes are different by an order of magnitude, minor changes in volume (say 1 million vs. 2) rarely have a large net effect on our final analysis because of this.
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Our analysis accounts for low volumes in pricing, however, keep in mind that in low volumes, pricing disparities from one customer to the next, for the same parts, can be huge, and make the job of estimating such purchases prices much harder.
Total BOM: $51.04
Top Cost Drivers below: $36.19
% of Total BOM 71%
Main Cost Drivers below
Freescale Semiconductor MPC5200CVR400B MCU - 32-Bit, MPC603e Series e300 Core, 400MHz, 16KB SRAM, 56 GPIOs, CAN/I2C/PCI/USB/SPI/Ethernet/J1850 Interface, w/ 6 Programmable Serial Controllers- (Qty: 1)
Silex Technology SX-10WG WLAN Module - IEEE 802.11 b/g, Integrated Atheros AR5005G Chipset, Mini PCI, 54Mbps- (Qty: 1)
Micron Technology JS28F128J3D-75 Flash - NOR, 128Mb, 3V, 75ns- (Qty: 2)
4-Layer - FR4, Lead-Free- (Qty: 1)
Saturn Electronics - (Qty: 1)
Micron Technology MT46V16M16P-75:F SDRAM - DDR, 256Mb, 16Mx16, 2.5V- (Qty: 2)
Texas Instruments LM2831XMF Regulator - DC-DC Converter, PWM, Step Down, 1.5A, 2%, 1.6MHz- (Qty: 3)
Ceramic Multilayer - X5R/X7R- (Qty: 24)
- (Qty: 152)
Texas Instruments TPS5450DDA Regulator - DC-DC Converter, PWM, Step Down, 5A, 1.5%, 500kHz- (Qty: 1)
Not Included in Analysis
The total materials and manufacturing costs reported in this analysis reflect ONLY the direct materials cost (from component vendors and assorted EMS providers), AND manufacturing with basic test. Not included in this analysis are costs above and beyond the material manufacture of the core device itself - cost of intellectual property, royalties and licensing fees (those not already included into the per component price), software, software loading and test, shipping, logistics marketing and other channel costs including not only EMS provider and the OEM's margin, but that of other resellers. Our cost analysis is meant to focus on those costs incurred in the manufacture of the core device and exceptionally in some circumstances the packaging and literature as well.
We do provide an Excel tab 'Overall Costs' where a user can enter their known pre and post production costs to build a per unit cost reflective of theirs actual expenditures.
Manufacturing Notes
For the purposes of our analysis, our cost structures in manufacturing represent the cost to the manufacturer, without markup. If an EMS is involved, one would have to add a fair margin for the EMS provider, on top of our cost assessment, in order to provide a 'fair price' to the manufacturer. EMS providers often operate in the low single digits on margins, but tend to make up for such low margins when working with low volume products such as this.
Country of Origin
For the purposes of this analysis, we are assuming the following country(ies) of origin for each level of assembly, based on a combination of 'Made In' markings, and/or assumptions based on our knowledge of such equipment.
Main PCB - United States
Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly - United States
WLAN Module - United States
Country of origin assumptions relate directly to the associated cost of manufacturing, where calculated by iSuppli. In the cases of 'finished' sub-assemblies (such as WLAN Module), we do not calculate internal manufacturing costs, but rather assess the market price of the finished product in which case country of origin assumptions may or may not have a direct effect on pricing.
Labor rates are applied directly only to hand inserted components and systems in our bill of materials, and although regional assumptions do, these new rates do not have a direct effect on our modeled calculations of placement costs for automated SMD assembly lines. "Auto inserted components (such as SMT components) placement costs are calculated by an iSuppli algorithm which allocates a cost per component based on the size and pincount of the device. This calculation is affected by country or region of origin as well.
Design Complexity
Component counts by assembly and the number of assembly are indicators of design complexity and efficiency.
Component Qty: 390 - Main PCB
Component Qty: 16 - Other - Enclosures / Final Assembly
Component Qty: 115 - WLAN Module
Component Qty: 521 - Grand Total
Component counts have a direct bearing on the overall manufacturing cycle times and costs, and also can increase or decrease overall yields and re-work. Our calculations of manufacturing costs factor counts and more qualitative complexities in the design.
Note that manual labor has a much smaller effect on auto-insertion assembly lines (for the Main PCB, for example), where manufacturing costs are much more capital equipment intensive and driven by these investment costs.
Design Notes
At the core of this device is the Freescale (MPC5200CVR400B) MCU - 32-Bit, MPC603e Series e300 Core, 400MHz, 16KB SRAM, 56 GPIOs, CAN/I2C/PCI/USB/SPI/Ethernet/J1850 Interface, w/ 6 Programmable Serial Controllers, and Microchip (PIC18F65J10-I/PT) MCU - 8-Bit, 40MHz, 32KB Flash, 2048B SRAM, 50 I/Os, w/ 11Ch x 10-Bit ADC, SPI/I2C, USART Supports RS-485, RS-232 & LIN/2602. This device also has a Silex Technology IEEE802.11b/g WLAN Modules which features Qualcomm Atheros (AR2413A) WLAN - Single Chip, MAC/Baseband Processor/Radio, IEEE 802.11b/g, PCI Host Interfaces w/ DMA Support. It also contains 3 memory components - (2x) Micron (MT46V16M16P-75:F) SDRAM - DDR, 256Mb, and Micron (JS28F128J3D-75) Flash - NOR, 128Mb, along with a number of discrete I/O components such as NXP (ISP1181ADGG) USB Controller, Freescale (MCZ33290EF) Serial Link Interface, TI (DS36277TM) RS-485/422 Transceiver, and NXP (TJA1050T) CAN Transceiver.
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