Renesas Electronics launched the first SOC for automotive fusion built on the 3nm process, which is designed to improve performance with lower power and save critical space on computer boards for car OEMs. It serves advanced driver assistance systems on a single chip alongside in-vehicle infotainment and gateway applications.
Dubbed the R-Car X5H SoC, the announcement on Wednesday at Electronica in Germany will help carmakers and Tier 1 providers move to centralized electronic control units (ECUs) in future cars, Renesas said. In addition to serving multiple domains, the chip will allow customers the option to expand AI and graphics processing with chiplet technology. The X5H will be sampled to auto customers in the first half of 2025 with production in the second half of 2025.
Cyril Clocher, senior director of the auto product line at Renesas, told Fierce Electronics that the new X5H offers hardware-based Freedom from Interference technology, which means safety critical functions are isolated from non-critical functions. Functions that are safety critical, like brake-by-wire, can be assigned their own separate CPU core, memory and interfaces to prevent catastrophic vehicle failures due to a hardware or software fault.
The new fifth-generation X5H SOC includes native NPU and GPU processors, to allow performance scaling over a range of vehicles from entry-level to high end luxury, Clocher said. With chiplet extensions, a 400 TOPS on-chip NPU combined with an external NPU chiplet extension, AI processing can be tripled. This approach “solves needs for real-time processing,” Clocher said.
NPUs and GPUs can be mixed and matched “so that OEMs can really meet their needs,” he added. Such needs include multiple sensors in new cars, including fisheye sensors that provide high resolution for parking aids and autonomous driving. “We are far from having L2 ADAS in every car, but growth for more sensors is possible with 3nm, which brings huge value to customers…with best in class power efficiency.”
