Renesas launches in-car with built-in flash memory and integrated virtualization capabilities

Renesas Electronics announced the RH850/U2A, a new microcontroller (MCU) product with built-in flash memory and integrated hardware integration virtualization assistance. The new product maintains the high-speed, real-time performance of the RH850 family while integrating hardware-based virtualization assistance to support functional safety at the highest ASIL D level, enabling integration of ECUs with different security levels.

The RH850/U2A, the first member of Renesas' cross-domain MCU product family, is a new generation of in-vehicle control chips that address the growing need to integrate multiple applications on a single chip, enabling the integration of different electro-electrical architectures (E/E architectures) into a single electrical control unit (ECU).

The 32-bit RH850/U2A MCU using the 28 nm process builds on key features of Renesas' RH850/Px series for chassis system applications and RH850/Fx series for body control to further enhance performance and enable virtualization assistance. To support operations in chassis/safety, body, domain control, and low - to mid-range gateway applications. To meet the ASIL Level D functional safety required for chassis/safety applications, hardware-based virtualization assistive technology enables multiple application software with different functional safety levels to run on the RH850/U2A MCU in parallel without interference while maintaining the real-time performance required for vehicle control.

"As new E/E architectures evolve, there is a growing demand for high-performance, cross-domain MCUS that can integrate different ECUs and support multiple applications." Naoki Yoshida, vice president, Customer Cooperation Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Automotive Technology, said, "Starting with the RH850/U2A, Renesas Electronics' new cross-domain MCU family will help customers improve development efficiency and reduce development time for new vehicles, thereby accelerating the development of connected and autonomous vehicles. At the same time, we are proud to be leading the way in virtualizing and supporting ASIL D technologies."

Key features of the new RH850 /U2A MCU

Combining high performance, on-chip safety and connectivity, the cross-domain RH850/U2A MCU is designed for the demanding requirements of multiple vehicle control applications, including body, chassis/safety, domain control and low - to mid-range gateways.

● Supports high-speed real-time performance and hardware-based virtualization assistance to accelerate ECU integration in ASIL D compliant complex automotive control systems

The new automotive control MCUS are equipped with up to four sets of dual-core lock-step CPU cores up to 400MHz, each incorporating hardware-based virtualization assistance while maintaining the high-speed real-time performance of the RH850 family. To support ASIL D, this MCU includes a self-diagnostic SR-BIST (Stand-by Recovery BIST) function that minimizes current fluctuations. Hardware-based virtualization assistance also allows multiple software systems that meet different ISO26262 functional safety levels to operate independently in high-performance mode without interference, while reducing the resource footprint required for virtualization to maintain real-time performance, which enables customers to integrate multiple ECU functions into a single ECU while maintaining functional safety, network security, and network security. And real-time operation requirements.

● Built-in large capacity flash memory, support for advanced and secure OTA upgrades

Built-in large capacity flash memory to support over the air (OTA) function, which ensures automatic wireless upgrade of the ECU software to control the program without interrupting vehicle operation. The RH850/U2A MCU is equipped with up to 16 MB of built-in ROM flash memory and 3.6MB capacity SRAM, providing users with flexibility for future functional expansion. Network security features included in the MCU support all security levels from Evita Light to Evita Full (Note 2) to enhance protection against cyber attacks and enable devices to achieve secure and fast Full No-Wait OTA software upgrades as security requirements evolve.

● Extend network connectivity for ADAS and autonomous driving systems

The RH850/U2A MCU is also equipped with a variety of network interfaces, including SGMII-standard 1 Gbps Ethernet communication interface and CAN-FD interface with up to 16 channels, giving the MCU the ability to process large amounts of data generated by multiple types of sensors in ADAS and autonomous driving functions. Enable customers to support future high-speed network capabilities and meet high communication throughput requirements.