Microcontroller with virtualisation supports up to ASIL D
Believed to be the first microcontroller embedded flash to integrate a hardware-based virtualisation-assisted function, the RH850/U2A maintains the fast, real time performance of the RH850, claims Renesas Electronics. The hardware-based virtualisation assist technology can support up to ASIL D level of functional safety.
The RH850/U2A is the first member of Renesas’ cross-domain automotive-control microcontrollers designed to address the growing need to integrate multiple applications into a single chip for unified electronic control units (ECUs) for the electrical-electronic architecture (E/E architecture).
The 32-bit RH850/U2A is based on 28nm process technology, exploiting functions from Renesas’ RH850/Px series for chassis control and its RH850/Fx series for body control to implement a virtualisation-assisted function to support operation in chassis/safety, body, domain control and low-end/mid-range gateway applications. To support the ASIL D level required for chassis/safety applications, the hardware-based virtualisation assist technology allows customers to implement multiple software with different functional safety levels on the RH850/U2A microcontrolle and run concurrently without interference, explains Renesas.
“The evolution of new E/E Architecture is driving the trend toward single ECUs that support multiple ECU functions for high-performance devices that can operate across multiple application areas,” said Naoki Yoshida, vicepPresident, Renesas’ Automotive Technical Customer Engagement business division. “Starting with the RH850/U2A, Renesas’ new series of cross-domain MCUs increases development efficiency and reduces development time to accelerate connected and autonomous vehicle development strategies, and we are excited to lead the charge with virtualization and ASIL D support,” he adds.
The cross-domain RH850/U2A is designed for the rigorous workloads of multiple automotive control applications including body, chassis/safety, domain control, and low-/mid-range gateways.
It is equipped with up to four 400MHz CPU cores in a dual core lock-step structure. Each CPU core integrates a hardware-based virtualisation-assisted function, while maintaining the same fast real-time performance provided by the RH850. To support ASIL D, the microcontroller includes self-diagnostic SR-BIST (standby-resume built in self test) functions with minimised current fluctuation rate. The hardware-based virtualisation-assisted function allows multiple software systems with varying ISO26262 functional safety levels to operate independently without interference during high performance. It also reduces the virtualisation overhead to maintain real time execution, adds Renesas. This enables users to integrate multiple ECU functions into a single ECU while maintaining safety, security, and real-time operation requirements.
The demand continues to grow for MCUs with built-in large capacity flash memory to support over-the-air (OTA) functionality that automatically and wirelessly updates ECU software to control programs without interrupting vehicle operations. The RH850/U2A is equipped with up to 16Mbytes of built-in flash ROM and 3.6Mbytes of SRAM, offering users future function expansion. The microcontroller includes security functions that support Evita Light up through Evita Full to protect against cyber attacks, enabling the device to support safe and rapid full no-wait OTA software updates as security requirements evolve, continues Renesas.
Networking interfaces include an SGMII-standard 1Gbits per second Ethernet communications interface and a CAN-FD interface with up to 16 channels. This I/O capability enables the MCU to process the large amounts of sensor data being generated by multiple types of sensors in ADAS and autonomous driving functions.
Samples will be available Q1 2020. Renesas also plans to provide both software and a development environment as part of the cross-domain microcontroller portfolio.
Visit Renesas at Embedded World (Hall 1, stand 1-310).
