Low-cost high-performance Xilinx technology powers development of inexpensive alcohol breath testers for drivers and law enforcement.

Late last year, Canadian-based Alcohol Countermeasure System (ACS) introduced the Elan™ personal breath tester, which measures an individual’s blood alcohol concentration. Developed in collaboration with Xilinx, the Elan tester demonstrates the creative potential for new mass market products that exploit low-cost, low power-consuming FPGAs.

The Elan tester analyzes and displays blood alcohol (%BAC) test results on a 3-digit LCD display within 10 seconds, yet it’s not much bigger than a cigarette lighter and costs just $49 USD.

Stopping Repeat Offenders

ACS and Xilinx have also developed a high-end, voice-recognition alcohol breath tester that will help law enforcement manage repeat offenders. Available today in beta form, the ACS WR3 ignition interlock device locks the auto ignition until the driver passes a sobriety analysis by breathing and humming into the mouthpiece.

What makes this new technology unique is the voice recognition feature – enabled by Xilinx chips – which makes it impossible for the offender to cheat and activate the vehicle with the breath of another individual.

Xilinx FPGAs Key Component

“Xilinx low-cost programmable chips provided the technology we required to produce the most advanced alcohol breath testers on the market today,” said Nigel Correia, operations manager at Alcohol Countermeasure Systems. “We needed leading-edge technology combined with low power and low cost, and Xilinx delivered.” ACS partners with North American and European law enforcement agencies in the deployment of its technology. The Elan alcohol breath tester is available to the public and can be ordered directly from ACS online at www.acs-corp.com.

Printable PDF version of this article.  (04/02/03) 71 KB