Renesas Electronics has recently unveiled the latest generation of automotive fusion system-on-chips (SoCs) that cater to various automotive domains such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), and gateway applications all within a single chip. The new R-Car X5H SoC, constructed using cutting-edge 3-nanometer (nm) automotive process technology, stands out as the first device in the R-Car X5 series, offering unparalleled integration and performance that enables OEMs and Tier 1s to transition to centralized Electronic Control Units (ECUs) for streamlined development and future-proof system solutions.
One of the key features of the R-Car X5H is its hardware-based isolation technology, which allows for highly-integrated and secure processing solutions across multiple automotive domains on a single chip. Moreover, this new SoC also provides the option to enhance AI and graphics processing performance using chiplet technology.
As the flagship device within the fifth-generation R-Car Family, the R-Car X5H directly tackles the complexities of Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) development. This includes optimizing compute performance, power consumption, cost, hardware and software integration, and ensuring vehicle safety. By consolidating application processing, real-time processing, GPU and AI compute, large display capabilities, and sensor connectivity onto a single chip, these devices pave the way for a new era of automated driving, IVI, and gateway applications.
The R-Car X5H series boasts AI acceleration of up to 400 TOPS with industry-leading TOPS/W performance, and GPU processing of up to 4 TFLOPS. It features a total of 32 Arm Cortex-A720AE CPU cores for application processing, delivering over 1,000K DMIPS performance, and six Arm Cortex-R52 dual lockstep CPU cores providing over 60K DMIPS performance with support for ASIL D capabilities without external microcontrollers (MCUs).
Manufactured using TSMC’s advanced process nodes, the new SoC series achieves top-end CPU performance while reducing power consumption by 30-35% compared to devices designed for a 5-nm process node. These power-efficient features not only cut overall system costs by eliminating the need for additional cooling solutions but also extend the driving range of vehicles.
In addition to the powerful native NPU and GPU processing engines, Renesas offers chiplet extensions that allow customers to scale up their performance. By combining an on-chip NPU with an external NPU through a chiplet extension, AI processing performance can be boosted three to four times or more. The R-Car X5H supports the UCle (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express) die-to-die interconnect and APIs for seamless chiplet integration, enabling interoperability with other components in a multi-die system, even non-Renesas chips.
Safety remains a top priority for automakers and Tier-1 suppliers, which is why the R-Car X5H SoC incorporates hardware-based Freedom from Interference (FFI) technology alongside software-based isolation. This secure isolation method separates safety-critical functions from non-critical functions, preventing catastrophic vehicle failures in the event of a hardware or software fault. The SoC also features Quality of Service (QoS) management for real-time workload prioritization and resource allocation.
With its groundbreaking features and advanced technology, the R-Car X5H SoC sets a new standard in automotive SoCs, offering unmatched integration, performance, and safety for next-generation vehicles.
