Multi-core processors will be the basic choice for automotive electronics

The automotive industry should change the way it designs and develops automotive electronic systems. Reducing the number of electronic control units ( ECUs ) and integrating more functions are two major factors driving this change. Since more functions usually require ECUs to have higher performance and computing power, the above two factors seem to be caught in a well-known dilemma.

Reducing the number of ECUs is mainly to save costs, including power consumption, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), printed circuit board (PCB) area and cable issues. Reducing the number of ECUs can also reduce the communication between ECUs, thereby reducing system complexity and cost.

Reducing the number of ECUs can impact costs in several ways:

Hardware cost: More efficient system architecture can reduce the hardware redundancy that currently exists in more than one control unit. In addition, fewer nodes and multiplexers and more distributed loads can reduce the complexity of the vehicle network system and make it simpler.

Development costs: The reduction in the number of ECUs simplifies the system and may be based on automotive computer platforms such as AUTOSAR and GENIVI, or proprietary platforms such as QNX and Microsoft Auto, which obviously helps to shorten development time. The use of such platforms will further reduce software costs due to the reuse of many software components, and it is also possible to select vehicle configurations at the end of the production chain according to the requirements of the region or market segment.

Maintenance costs: Flexible and lean control units also facilitate system updates and upgrades, especially when relying on standard software platforms.

Judging from the above factors, it seems that the future automotive system will be similar to the PC-based architecture, in which software will play a more important role. IHS envisions that this will be the era of software-defined cars, and hardware functions such as navigation, telematics and communication will be handled as software applications by several central ECUs. In addition, system updates and upgrades can also be achieved remotely by downloading new software packages.

The integration issues mentioned above are also related to system performance requirements such as computing power. As new functions are integrated into future cars, computing power is expected to increase significantly. These functions include infotainment, telematics, and navigation. In addition, traditional powertrain, chassis, and ADAS functions will also add functions that require more technology, especially computing power. Gradually improved safety and higher fuel efficiency will require more and newer electronic devices, most of which require higher computing power.

Multi-core and virtualization

Virtualization can serve multi-tasking systems and help rationalize automotive ECUs, thereby achieving lower cost and more efficient solutions. However, virtual systems can only be used for low- and medium-performance systems. Virtualization can provide a cheap and smooth solution for existing systems, helping the original systems transition to next-generation and high-end systems based on open source operating systems.

Therefore, IHS believes that multi-core architecture will be the basic choice for automotive electronics in the long run, which can meet the emerging and future requirements for high performance, maintenance control and power consumption.

Market supply and indicators

Multicore processors are already used in automotive systems. Freescale Semiconductor offers dual-core processors with speeds of 130MHz. BMW is one of the first OEMs to adopt multicore architectures, and has already used Freescale solutions in BMW racing cars. BMW is also expected to use multicore systems in future 1 Series, 3 Series and X3 models.

ARM recently announced the launch of the Cortex-R5 and Cortex-R7 MPCore processors for 3G and 4G mobile devices, as well as automotive and industrial applications. The ARM processor series covers a wide range of high-performance, real-time embedded applications, just to meet the needs of the automotive market.

These new products are particularly suitable for embedded applications that require high performance and high reliability. These processors provide a range of safety-focused features, including error management in all external buses, redundant dual-core systems, and error checking code (ECC). These products also support high-frequency interrupts, as well as fast and deterministic data transfer for real-time, high-security applications.