NXP releases S32N processor for CoreRide platform to simplify software-defined vehicle development

NXP’s S32 automotive processor family is more than just an upgrade to the S32N family, it sits at the top of the S32 CoreRide platform (Figure 1). Not many details are available about the chips themselves, other than they feature the latest Arm Cortex processor cores.

The S32N can handle a combination of real-time and synchronous solutions, making software-defined vehicle (SDV) development easier using virtualization. The S32 series includes chips such as S32G and S32K, which target different nodes in SDV.

1. In terms of hardware, the S32 CoreRide platform is built around the S32 family. S32N provides a high-end virtualization environment.

Many systems-on-chip (SoCs) and applications will still be distributed around the SDV, but many engine/electronic control unit (ECU) functions are consolidated into centralized SoCs like the S32N (Figure 2).

2. The S32 CoreRide platform is designed to centralize most of the applications typically found in a single engine control unit (ECU) into an SoC like the S32N, which can handle all of them in isolated virtual machines.

These applications and operating systems will be isolated using hypervisor and container technology. It will allow safety and security subsystems to support standards such as ISO 26262 and achieve ASIL-B and ASIL-D. The S32N has multiple cores that can be configured in a variety of ways, including pairing them for lock-step operation.

Bringing applications to a central system has significant advantages. It enables resources to be shared and allocated as needed. Because resources are in a single location, over-the-air updates can be simplified. Security is also easier to manage, and adding features is facilitated. Debugging a single SoC is easier than debugging discrete devices. Wiring can often be reduced, and network management can also be partially virtualized.

The traditional approach to SDV development has left the integration of the operating system, middleware, and other services to the developer (Figure 3). This is a nontrivial task for SDVs, which still have multiple ECUs. However, developers will continue to have choices for the platform, such as different operating systems, but the integration is done by NXP and its partners.

3. The S32 CoreRide platform provides integrated components instead of traditional development solutions, and the integration of each component is part of the development process.

The initial ecosystem for the S32 CoreRide platform includes Accenture, Archermind, Blackberry QNX, Elektrobit, ETAS, Green Hills Software, Sonatus, Synopsys, TTTech Auto, Valeo, Vector and Wind River Systems. They cover everything from operating systems and hypervisors to middleware and automotive applications.

“Sonatus is fully committed to the CoreRide platform, building on our proven history of tight integration with NXP silicon solutions in automotive mass production,” said Jeffrey Chou, co-founder and CEO of Sonatus.

He added: “The Sonatus Vehicle Platform accelerates the shift to software-defined vehicles, with performance optimized for a range of NXP solutions to deliver scalability, flexibility and fast time to market. We are proud to be in production with leading OEMs on S32G automotive processors and actively integrating with the new S32N family to enable the future of automotive architectures.”

“Before NXP introduced the S32 CoreRide platform, automotive OEMs and T1 were responsible for all integration, testing and validation of the operating system, hypervisor and middleware required to support the necessary infrastructure for the vehicle,” said Dan Mender, vice president of business development at Green Hills Software. “But now, S32 CoreRide significantly reduces the integration effort while bringing new levels of system scalability.”

“The collaboration between Green Hills and NXP provides a pre-integrated platform that decouples the underlying hardware + hypervisor + RTOS + middleware. It enables OEMs and Tier 1s to develop applications independent of the final vehicle architecture or even the specific S32 processor in the system.”

"Another key contribution from Green Hills to the CoreRide platform is its OS-agnostic multicore debugger and system history viewer that 'sees' all the heterogeneous cores and OSes in the system. This provides unprecedented visibility into complex multi-core/multi-OS systems for quickly finding and fixing bugs and eliminating performance bottlenecks."

There is no single SDV architecture (Figure 4), but CoreRide addresses all of these issues. How this is done will be up to the system designer and developer. The S32N will help centralize functionality into the control node.

4. There is no single software-defined vehicle architecture.

SDVs are clearly where the automotive market is headed, and the various architectures are complex. Platforms like the CoreRide platform can simplify the design and development cycle, thereby accelerating time to market and reducing development and support costs.