Synopsys and Infineon Technologies Launch AURIX TC4xx Series VDKs to Accelerate Development of Automotive Electronic Systems

Synopsys recently announced the launch of a virtual device development kit (VDK) supporting the Infineon AURIX™ TC4xx microcontroller family. The kit is the result of a long-term collaboration between Infineon and Synopsys, which can accelerate the development of automotive systems based on Infineon AURIX microcontrollers and help Infineon successfully deploy VDK internally: shorten the software and hardware development cycle from concept research to verification, and create a set of higher-quality and verified TC4xx virtual prototype models.

Based on Synopsys VDK, automotive Tier 1 manufacturers and OEMs can start TC4xx software development months before getting the chip, and realize the transformation of automotive system testing and evaluation from physical to virtual. The TC4xx virtual prototype can support a complete set of safe and reliable models, including: Tricore™ CPU subsystem, parallel processing unit (PPU), memory, communication, timer, analog-to-digital converter. The PPU is based on Synopsys' DesignWare® ARC® EV7x Processor IP, a powerful, scalable and easy-to-integrate single instruction multiple data (SIMD) vector DSP that can deploy AI in AURIX TC4xx at low cost and improve high-speed control performance.

VDK supports early investigation and testing of innovative algorithms such as AI and deep learning solutions, preparing for predictive high-speed control loops required for future eMobility use cases. In addition, VDK provides external communication, co-simulation and debugging/testing interfaces, which can seamlessly integrate virtual prototypes into the automotive development process for software debugging, virtual hardware-in-the-loop testing, calibration and fault testing. From interactive development to regression deployment in high-performance computing environments, TC4xx VDK can accelerate time to market, improve product quality and reduce development costs.

"eMobility, autonomous driving, and domain and zone control units introduced by the new EE architecture have increased the content and complexity of software. To shorten time to market while ensuring quality, safety, and development costs, automakers need virtual prototypes. Through our long-term collaboration with Synopsys, our comprehensive, high-quality, and proven virtual prototyping solutions for the AURIX TC4xx series will help customers start development earlier and deliver better products faster."

——Peter Schaefer

Senior Vice President and General Manager Automotive Microcontrollers Infineon Technologies

The Synopsys VDK for Infineon's AURIX TC4xx family has been deployed by Infineon for many use cases from concept to verification, including: hardware and software concept studies of new functional applicability in target applications, MCAL development with a seamless switching approach between virtual prototypes and physical hardware in a verification environment, and co-verification of low-level drivers for hardware verification. Currently, Infineon is also using the VDK for customer demonstrations and early preparation and verification of test modes before simulation hardware verification. These internal applications help accelerate virtual prototyping, ensure optimal quality, and achieve seamless integration with Infineon software.

"As electronic devices and software content continue to increase, leading automotive Tier 1 and OEM companies are shifting from physical to virtual development environments to meet more stringent time, quality, and safety requirements. With the new AURIX TC4xx VDKs from Synopsys and Infineon, our mutual automotive customers can start innovation and development earlier while improving reliability and reducing costs."

——Tom De Schutter

Vice President of Engineering Synopsys