Renesas Electronics Corporation, a leading semiconductor solutions provider, has introduced the latest generation of automotive fusion system-on-chips (SoCs). These new SoCs are designed to cater to various automotive domains such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), and gateway applications all in a single chip. The R-Car X5H SoC, built using cutting-edge 3-nanometer (nm) process technology, is the first device in the R-Car X5 series. It offers exceptional integration and performance, enabling Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1s to transition to centralized Electronic Control Units (ECUs) for more efficient development and future-proof system solutions.
The R-Car X5H stands out in the industry by providing highly-integrated, secure processing solutions on a single chip for multiple automotive domains, thanks to its unique hardware-based isolation technology. Additionally, this new SoC allows for the expansion of AI and graphics processing performance using chiplet technology. This innovation addresses the increasing complexity of Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) development by optimizing compute performance, power consumption, cost, hardware and software integration, while prioritizing vehicle safety.
With AI acceleration capabilities of up to 400 TOPS and GPU processing of up to 4 TFLOPS, the R-Car X5H series offers top-notch performance. It includes 32 Arm Cortex-A720AE CPU cores for application processing, delivering over 1,000K DMIPS performance, and six Arm Cortex-R52 dual lockstep CPU cores delivering over 60K DMIPS performance with support for ASIL D capabilities without external microcontrollers (MCUs). Moreover, manufactured using TSMC’s advanced process nodes, these SoCs achieve high CPU performance and a significant reduction in power consumption compared to devices designed for a 5-nm process node.
In addition to the powerful native NPU and GPU processing engines, Renesas provides chiplet extensions that allow customers to scale up their performance. By combining on-chip and external NPUs, AI processing performance can be increased by three to four times or more. The R-Car X5H supports chiplet integration through the UCle (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express) die-to-die interconnect and APIs, enabling interoperability with other components in a multi-die system. This flexibility allows for customization and future upgrades across vehicle platforms.
Safety is a top priority in automotive technology, and the R-Car X5H SoC ensures secure isolation through hardware-based Freedom from Interference (FFI) technology. This feature securely isolates safety-critical functions from non-critical functions to prevent potential vehicle failures. The SoC also includes Quality of Service (QoS) management to assign workload priorities and processing resources in real time.
Renesas’ R-Car Gen 5 platform offers scalability and supports a wide range of processing requirements, from zonal ECUs to high-end central compute, catering to various vehicle classes. The new unified hardware architecture based on Arm CPU cores enables developers to reuse software and tools across different SoCs and future products. With the R-Car MCU series powered by Arm, Renesas extends its vehicle control portfolio, enhancing security for body and chassis applications.
The R-Car Open Access (RoX) platform is designed to accelerate SDV development by providing a comprehensive development platform that integrates essential hardware, operating systems, software, and tools. This platform allows developers to design scalable compute solutions for various automotive systems, including ADAS, IVI, gateway, and more. Renesas will showcase the R-Car Gen 5 development environment at electronica 2024 in Munich, Germany, providing insights into automotive software design using the RoX development platform.
The R-Car X5H SoC will be available for sampling to select automotive customers in the first half of 2025, with production scheduled for the second half of 2027. Renesas continues to innovate in the automotive industry, providing end-to-end system solutions that meet the demands of SDV development and Shift-Left innovations. Through collaborations with industry leaders like TSMC, Renesas is shaping the future of automotive technology with advanced semiconductor solutions.
