Renesas Electronics Launches R-Car E3 SoC, Bringing High-End 3D Graphics Performance to Large-Display Automotive Instrument Clusters

Single-chip SoC reduces system cost and enhances scalability of R-Car family for integrated instrument cluster and infotainment applications

TOKYO, Japan, October 17, 2018 – Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced that it will expand its R-Car family of system-on-chip (SoC) devices to meet the growing demand for large-screen digital instrument clusters in all types of vehicles, launching the R-Car E3 SoC for automotive instrument clusters with high-resolution displays (12.3 inches, 1920 x 720 pixels) and high-end 3D graphics processing. This single-chip SoC is capable of smooth 3D rendering and has an integrated audio DSP and other peripheral functions to support instrument clusters and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems with audio, video display and other functions.

The R-Car E3 is an enhanced version of Renesas' R-Car D3 SoC for 3D graphics instrument clusters, with enhanced 3D graphics rendering capabilities. As human-machine interfaces (HMIs) become increasingly important, this new SoC, as part of Renesas' R-Car family, also features functional safety and cybersecurity features essential for connected cars, simplifying the task of developing systems that safely handle faults and cyberattacks.

该单芯片设计集成了多种系统，大大降低了系统开发总成本，并显著节省了空间。R-Car E3 具有针对集成驾驶舱的 R-Car H3 和 R-Car M3，以及针对仪表盘 的R-Car D3的可扩展性，因此可重复利用已开发软件。在仪表盘领域具有丰富经验的瑞萨电子的合作伙伴，除了能够为用户提供系统集成支持，还提供操作系统 ( OS ) 和 HMI 工具，从而显著减少开发工作量，将软件支持功能从目前已具有高端 3D 图形体验的高端车型，扩展到全液晶仪表盘功能被广泛期待并且即将成为主流的入门级车型。

“Instrument clusters have stringent functional safety and cybersecurity requirements, while the amount of information displayed is rapidly increasing, leading to increasingly rich graphics capabilities, ” said William Asburry, manager of electrical engineering at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) . “The ability to display information in high-resolution 3D and 2D graphics has become a critical feature of future instrument clusters, and Renesas’ R-Car SoCs and the scalability of its software system have greatly simplified the implementation and optimized our development efforts.”

电装 ( Denso ) 株式会社驾驶舱系统部总经理 西川良一 表示 ：“图形仪表盘系统对于准确可靠地向驾驶员显示仪表及 IVI 信息极为重要。未来，随着系统使用的图形更加丰富，瑞萨电子的 R-Car 产品不仅可以让汽车制造商满足驾驶员的信息需求，而且还可以充分利用各种车型的软件资源显著提高开发效率。”

“Full-graphic instrument clusters that display relevant information to drivers exactly what they need will become the de facto standard as automated driving and advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) functions advance, ” said Keiichi Nagano, General Manager of Development Department at Nippon Seiki Co. , Ltd. “Achieving these functions requires high-performance graphics engines with sophisticated graphics rendering capabilities as well as cybersecurity and functional protection. Renesas’ R-Car E3 fully meets these new requirements and facilitates the development of next-generation cockpit systems.”

Renesas has collaborated with several leading OS manufacturers, HMI manufacturers, and system integrators in the instrument cluster and IVI fields. System developers can further reduce the development process and cost of 3D graphic instrument clusters by leveraging a wide range of automotive solutions from entry-level to luxury models from more than 250 Renesas R-Car Alliance member companies.

For key specifications of the new products, please see the specification sheet.

R-Car E3 Series SoC samples are available now, priced at $60 each. Mass production is scheduled to begin in December 2019, and monthly production is expected to reach 100,000 units by December 2020.