Japanese semiconductor supplier Renesas Electronics has announced its next-generation automotive digital system on chips (SoCs) and microcontrollers (MCUs).

Renesas revealed its fifth-generation R-Car SoC for applications needing in-package chiplet integration technology, giving automotive engineers the option to customize designs. For example, if Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) need more AI performance, engineers can integrate AI accelerators into a single chip. The company announced two new MCU products: a crossover MCU series for domain and zone electronic control units (ECUs) in next-generation E/E architectures in cars; and a vehicle-control MCU platform. 

Renesas has developed an Arm-based 32-bit crossover R-Car MCU platform with built-in Non-Volatile Memory (NVM). Automotive engineers will be able to take advantage of the software and Arm’s ecosystem by using the MCUs to build powertrain, body control, chassis and instrument cluster systems. This will allow Renesas to standardize IP between MCUs and SoCs, increasing software usability.

Renesas will also offer a virtual software development environment with new debugging and performance evaluation tools. Renesas will offer these tools for next-generation processors in the first quarter of 2024.

“Our customers have been telling us that they need to be able to accelerate development without compromising quality,” said Vivek Bhan, Senior VP at Renesas. “This means they must design and verify their software even before hardware arrives. We will help them realize this goal by continuing to invest in shift left and software-first innovations, deploying new scalable embedded processors.”

Source: Renesas