Renesas takes the lead in launching multi-domain fusion SoC using automotive-grade 3nm process

The fifth-generation R-Car SoC brings a future-oriented multi-domain fusion solution to centralized E/E architecture and supports chiplet expansion

Beijing, China, November 13, 2024 - Renesas Electronics, a global supplier of semiconductor solutions, today announced the launch of a new generation of automotive multi-domain fusion system-on-chip (SoC) - the R-Car X5 series. A single chip can simultaneously support multiple automotive functional domains, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI), and multiple in-vehicle applications including gateway applications. As the first product in the R-Car X5 series, the highly anticipated R-Car X5H SoC uses advanced 3nm automotive-grade process, with high integration and excellent performance, promoting the transformation of OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to centralized electronic control units (ECUs), simplifying the development process, and creating future-oriented system solutions. Thanks to its unique hardware isolation technology, the Renesas R-Car X5H SoC has become one of the industry's first solutions to achieve highly integrated and secure processing that supports multiple in-vehicle functional domains on a single chip. In addition, this new SoC also provides the option of expanding artificial intelligence (AI) and graphics processing performance through Chiplet (chiplet packaging) technology.

As the most powerful member of the fifth generation (Gen 5) R-Car product family, the R-Car X5H faces the growing complexity in the development of software-defined vehicles (SDVs), overcoming challenges including optimizing computing performance, power consumption, cost, hardware and software integration, while ensuring vehicle safety. By tightly combining application processing, real-time processing, GPU and AI computing, large display functions and sensor connectivity on a single chip, applications such as autonomous driving, IVI and gateways are taken to a new level.

全新SoC系列实现高达400TOPS的AI算力和业界卓越的TOPS/W性能，同时支持高达4TFLOPS（注1）的GPU处理能力。其搭载总计32个用于应用处理的Arm® Cortex®-A720AE CPU内核，提供超过1,000K DMIPS的CPU算力。产品还配备6个Arm Cortex-R52双锁步CPU内核，实现超过60K DMIPS的性能，无需外部微控制器（MCU）即可支持ASIL D功能。该系列SoC采用台积电最先进的工艺节点之一制造，在达到更高CPU性能的同时，功耗却比5nm工艺节点设计的产品降低30-35%（注2）。这些高能效特性不仅消除对额外冷却解决方案的需求，显著降低整体系统成本，同时也延长了车辆行驶里程。

Chiplet expansion, improved flexibility and higher performance

Although the fifth-generation R-Car SoC is equipped with powerful native NPU and GPU processing engines, Renesas still provides customers with the ability to improve performance based on Chiplet technology expansion. For example, when the 400-TOPS on-chip NPU is combined with an external NPU through Chiplet expansion, AI processing performance can be increased by 3-4 times or even more. To achieve seamless Chiplet integration, the R-Car X5H provides a standard UCl (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Channel) chip-to-chip interconnect interface and API to promote interoperability with other components in multi-chip systems, even if these components are not Renesas chips. This flexible design approach allows OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to mix and match different functions and customize their systems across vehicle platforms, including future upgrades.

Supports security isolation of multiple domains with different functional safety level requirements

While automakers and Tier 1 suppliers are demanding increasing performance and functionality, safety remains their top priority. While other SoCs rely solely on software isolation, the R-Car X5H SoC also uses hardware-based "Free from Interference (FFI)" technology. This hardware design isolates critical safety functions (such as wire control braking) from non-critical functions. Critical functions that are considered safety-related can be assigned to their own independent and redundant domains. Each domain has its own independent CPU core, memory, and interfaces, preventing potential catastrophic failures in the vehicle if hardware or software fails in different domains. In addition, the R-Car X5H is also equipped with Quality of Service (QoS) management capabilities that can prioritize workloads and allocate processing resources in real time.

“Renesas’ latest innovations in the R-Car Gen5 platform effectively address the complex challenges currently facing the automotive industry,” said Vivek Bhan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of High Performance Computing at Renesas . “Our customers are looking for end-to-end automotive-grade system solutions, ranging from hardware optimization and safety compliance to flexible and scalable architecture options and seamless tool and software integration. Renesas’ R-Car Gen5 family meets these needs. We are committed to supporting the automotive industry to accelerate the development of SDVs and ‘shift left’ innovation to usher in the next era of automotive technology.”

“We are pleased to work with Renesas, a trusted automotive technology leader, to bring their latest innovations to market using our state-of-the-art 3nm process technology,” said Dr. Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s Senior Vice President of Business Development and Global Sales, and Deputy Co-COO. “Our N3A process is purpose-built for advanced automotive SoCs, delivering industry-leading 3nm performance and meeting AEC Q-100 Grade 1 reliability standards. We are very excited to collaborate with Renesas on the R-Car Gen5 platform and help reshape the future of silicon-defined vehicles.”

Asif Anwar, Executive Director of Automotive Market Analysis, TechInsights, said: “The path to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) will be supported by the digitization of the cockpit, vehicle connectivity, and the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The vehicle’s electronic/electrical (E/E) architecture will be a core enabler as various functions are integrated into regional and central controllers that will provide the necessary computing power. TechInsights predicts that the regional controller and high-performance computing SoC processor market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17% between 2028 and 2031.”

Anwar continued “Renesas is one of the top three suppliers of automotive processors and has leveraged its decades of experience to launch the fifth-generation R-Car X5H SoC, which is scalable for SDV requirements. Based on the 3nm process, the R-Car X5H SoC enables a multi-domain converged solution that can be used across vehicle platforms and optimizes power consumption. Combined with the RoX SDV platform, Renesas is able to provide software-first, cross-domain solutions that will shorten time to market for the automotive industry.”

The fifth-generation R-Car platform with scalability

Renesas' fifth-generation R-Car platform supports the widest range of processing needs in the industry - from regional ECUs to high-end central computing, covering entry-level vehicles to luxury models. Thanks to the new unified hardware architecture based on the Arm CPU core, developers of the fifth-generation R-Car products can reuse the same software, tools and applications in Renesas' new 64-bit SoC and future products (including crossover 32-bit MCUs and automotive-grade 32-bit MCUs). As a member of the R-Car next-generation product family, Renesas will expand its vehicle control product portfolio with a new R-Car MCU series that also uses Arm technology. Renesas plans to launch samples of a new 32-bit MCU series with enhanced safety for body and chassis applications in the first quarter of 2025.

R-Car Open Access (RoX) platform now available for SDV development

Renesas' latest R-Car X5H and all future fifth-generation products are designed to accelerate the development of SDVs by integrating hardware and software into a comprehensive development platform. The newly released R-Car Open Access (RoX) SDV platform integrates all the key hardware, operating system (OS), software and tools required by automotive developers to quickly develop next-generation vehicles, and can obtain secure and continuous software updates. RoX provides OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers with a flexible virtual development environment for developing ADAS, IVI, gateways, cross-domain fusion systems, and various scalable systems such as body control, domain control and regional controllers.

Live demonstration at the 2024 Munich Electronics Show in Germany

Renesas will demonstrate the R-Car fifth-generation development environment live at booth 179 in Hall B4 at electronica 2024 in Munich, Germany, from November 12 to 15. During the show, attendees will have the opportunity to see how engineers design in-vehicle software using the Renesas R-Car Open Access (RoX) development platform.

Availability

The R-Car X5H will provide samples to some automotive customers in the first half of 2025 and is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2027.