NXP launches S32 CoreRide platform, demonstrates 5nm processor solution, and enables software-defined car development

Recently, at the NXP Automotive Ecosystem Technology Summit, the company officially launched the new S32 CoreRide open platform in China, and highlighted the latest solutions of the S32N55 processor , the first product based on the S32 CoreRide platform . The NXP S32 CoreRide platform and S32N55 processor are the company's central computing platforms for software-defined car needs, providing a scalable combination of security, real-time and application processing to better enable the development of software-defined cars.

As Jens Hinrichsen , executive vice president and general manager of advanced analog business at NXP Semiconductors , said, cars are the ultimate edge smart devices, and will gradually transition from hardware and mechanical parts to software-defined cars. Just as smartphones are increasingly defined by software, smart cars will become a complex system that requires high-end computing power and the ability to connect to the cloud and other vehicles. In this process, both software and hardware play an important role, and a collaborative and innovative system needs to be built. "NXP has always been a leader in the field of automotive processors. The S32 CoreRide platform will comprehensively enhance the core functions of smart cars, rather than assisted driving systems or entertainment functions. The S32 CoreRide platform will be the ultimate solution for car companies to build the underlying capabilities of smart cars."

Jens Hinrichsen, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Advanced Analog at NXP Semiconductors

Software-defined cars drive innovation in automotive E/E architecture

The core idea of ​​Software Defined Vehicles ( SDV ) is that the development of future cars will rely more on software technology with artificial intelligence as the core, rather than traditional mechanical performance or hardware configuration. Software defined cars have changed the traditional auto industry's model of independent innovation by vehicle manufacturers, Tier 1, Tier 2, etc. Software is fully involved in the process of car definition, development, verification, sales, and service, bringing users a personalized and high-quality experience.

In order to better support software-defined cars, the automotive E/E architecture is also undergoing tremendous changes. The traditional model with ECU as the core function can no longer meet the increasingly complex and huge software functions. Not only will the system complexity be beyond imagination, but the wiring harness problem also makes this innovation model difficult to continue. Sebastien Clamagirand, senior vice president and head of automotive systems and markets at NXP Semiconductors, said that software is accelerating automotive innovation and bringing new engineering efficiency. This requires: first, simplifying the E/E architecture and reducing system-level BOM costs; second, concentrating software development and optimizing development methods to improve software development efficiency; third, using the most advanced methods to manage vehicle-level energy use to make cars more efficient to increase mileage; fourth, using simpler methods to update and upgrade the software of the entire vehicle; fifth, through the joint development of software and hardware, to bring the greatest benefits to car companies.

Sebastien Clamagirand, Senior Vice President, Automotive Systems and Market, NXP Semiconductors

At the NXP Automotive Ecosystem Technology Summit, almost all guests mentioned that the central computing integrated architecture is an effective way to deal with software-defined cars. The industry generally believes that the technical foundation of software-defined cars is composed of three parts: electronic and electrical architecture + computing unit hardware architecture + software architecture. It is necessary to simplify the vehicle structure, decouple software and hardware, and modularize hardware. The central computing integrated architecture makes all this possible. The central computing architecture concentrates most of the functional logic into a central controller , so the hardware driver layer (BSP), operating system kernel, middleware, service and application layer of the software system can be concentrated together, which greatly improves the scalability of the system and the flexibility of the software architecture, and facilitates collaborative development and subsequent upgrades and maintenance.

However, the central computing integrated architecture has higher requirements for the underlying capabilities of the automotive E/E architecture, especially in the central platform part. The NXP S32 CoreRide platform is designed to solve this problem. "NXP and its ecosystem partners have designed the most suitable S32 CoreRide platform to reduce the complexity of hardware and software integration. We work with strong software ecosystem partners to integrate key software components into NXP's chips to achieve optimal performance - while reducing development workload." Sebastien Clamagirand said.

NXP releases S32 CoreRide platform

According to NXP's official introduction , the S32 CoreRide platform is the first to combine processing, automotive networking and system power management with integrated software. It not only brings together NXP's mature S32 computing, networking, and system power management technologies, but also integrates ready-to-deploy software from NXP's extensive software ecosystem partners, aiming to help automakers and Tier 1 simplify the complexity of automotive architecture development and reduce costs.

In order to integrate more basic functions into NXP's chips as Sebastien Clamagirand said, the S32 CoreRide platform integrates NXP's extensive hardware product portfolio and leading automotive software suppliers in the global ecosystem, including Accenture ESR Labs, ArcherMind Technology , Blackberry QNX, Elektrobit, ETAS, Green Hills Software, Sonatus, Synopsys, TT Tech Auto, Vector Informatik GmbH, Wind River, and software from multiple Tier 1 suppliers such as Valeo.

As shown in the figure below, the automotive control center based on the S32N55 processor can integrate more ECU functions together. The automotive power system, chassis control, body and other core automotive functions are no longer based on independent MCUs and wiring. The system cost and wiring harness cost and harness weight will be significantly reduced, and the vehicle's cruising range can be extended. Based on this hardware system, the on-site staff demonstrated functions such as personalized driving mode customization, fail-safe reset and OTA upgrade.

Automotive control center based on S32N55 processor

Of course, the S32N55 processor based on the 5nm process can provide capabilities that are not only integrated, but also can improve development flexibility and system security. The S32N55 processor supports "core to pin" hardware isolation and virtualization technology, and its resources can be dynamically partitioned to meet the changing needs of automotive functions in the most appropriate way over time. The S32N55 processor supports the highest level of functional safety, allowing a variety of automotive functions to be safely integrated into the S32N55 processor with multiple isolated execution environments. In addition, hardware-enforced isolation of automotive functions enables automakers to safely integrate ECUs, simplify software development and support enhancements and upgrades throughout the entire life cycle.

Li Xiaohe , senior vice president of NXP and general manager of the new energy and drive system product line, specifically demonstrated the capabilities of the S32 CoreRide platform and the S32N55 processor using the implementation of BMS functions as an example. In the current BMS system, there are about 3-4 locations that require battery-related software programming , and then most of the work is done on the acquisition board, and then processed on the domain controller, and finally the information is summarized to the on-board computer. However, with the intelligent upgrade of the BMS system, the complexity and perception of data will increase significantly, and cloud processing and digital twins will also be added. At the same time, the system processing efficiency will increase instead of decrease. "Based on the S32N55 processor, we can move the functions related to safety and real-time downward, and pull up the functions related to data processing, omitting the microprocessor and the corresponding software development process, thereby improving the development efficiency of the intelligent BMS system and leaving ample space for subsequent OTA."

Li Xiaohe, Senior Vice President and General Manager of New Energy and Drive System Product Line, NXP

"In the future, we will work with software ecosystem partners to integrate the software in the ECU and the battery software, realize the downward migration of more real-time functions and battery functions, solidify them into the processor, and then further pull the data up to the cloud to simplify the development of intermediate software and further improve the efficiency of system development. It is worth noting that at this time, semiconductor manufacturers no longer have to master a product or a module, but the control of the entire vehicle architecture and the understanding of the entire battery management system. The driving force behind NXP's ability to achieve this with its partners is NXP's full product layout strategy." said Li Xiaohe.

NXP said that the first batch of mass-produced vehicles based on the S32 CoreRide platform will be available in 2027.