First 3nm multi-domain controller has 38 cores, AI chiplets

Renesas Electronics has launched its fifth generation of domain controller, the first to be built on a 3nm TSMC process.

The first R-Car X5 system on chip, the X5H, uses on 38 ARM cores and AI and GPU chiplets to run multiple automotive domains including Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), and gateway applications.

This supports the key shift to centralized Electronic Control Units (ECUs) in software defined vehicles.

The multiple domains are enabled by a proprietary hardware-based isolation technology alongside chiplet graphics and AI processors. Tightly coupling application processing, real-time processing, GPU and AI compute, large display capabilities and sensor connectivity on a single chip boosts the developments of automated driving, IVI and gateway applications.

The R5X has 32 ARM Cortex-A720AE CPU cores for application processing, delivering over 1,000K DMIPS alongside six Cortex-R52 real time cores with dual lockstep capability delivering over 60K DMIPS with support for ASIL D capabilities without external microcontrollers (MCUs).

An integrated neural processing unit provides up to 400 TOPS of AI performance and a GPU provides processing of up to 4 TFLOPS.

The automotive qualified N3A 3nm process provides higher integration alongside a 30-35 percent reduction in power consumption compared to devices designed for a 5nm process node. The power efficiency significantly lower overall system costs by eliminating the need for additional cooling.

There are native NPU and GPU processing engines in the chip, but Renesas is also offering chiplet extensions. This can scale the AI processing by three to four times to exceed 1000TOPS.

The chiplets use the standard UCle (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express) die-to-die interconnect and APIs to provide interoperability with other in-house or external, non-Renesas devices such as the Hailo AI accelerator. This allows car OEMs and Tier 1s to mix and match different functions and customize their systems including future upgrades across vehicle platforms an dis key to a centralised controller.

Renesas also implements hardware-based Freedom from Interference (FFI) technology in the R-Car X5H that isolates safety-critical functions such as brake-by-wire from non-critical functions. Functions deemed safety critical can be assigned their own separate, redundant domains, each having its own independent CPU core, memory and interfaces, preventing potentially catastrophic vehicle failures in the event of a hardware or software fault from a different domain.

The R-Car X5H also comes with Quality of Service (QoS) management that determines workload priorities and assigns processing resources in real time. 

“Our latest innovations in the R-Car Gen 5 platform tackle the complex challenges the automotive industry faces today,” said Vivek Bhan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of High Performance Computing at Renesas. “Our customers are looking for end-to-end automotive-grade system solutions that cover everything from hardware optimization, safety compliance to flexible and scalable architecture selection and seamless tools and software integration. Our R-Car Gen 5 Family meets these demands and we are committed to helping the industry accelerate SDV development and Shift-Left innovations for the next era of automotive technology.” 

“We are thrilled to partner with a trusted automotive technology leader like Renesas to bring their latest innovation to market using our state-of-the-art 3-nm process technology,” said Dr. Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s Senior Vice President of Business Development and Global Sales, and Deputy Co-COO. “Our N3A process is optimized for advanced automotive SoCs, with industry-leading 3nm performance at AEC Q-100 Grade 1 reliability. We are excited to work with Renesas to develop this R-Car Gen5 platform, and help re-shape the future of ‘silicon-defined vehicles’.” 

“Renesas is a top three supplier of automotive processors and is leveraging decades of experience with its fifth generation R-Car X5H SoC that will scale with the requirements of an SDV. By leveraging the 3nm process, the R-Car X5H SoC allows the automotive industry to implement a multi-use solution set that can be used across the vehicle platform with optimized power budgets. Combining this with the RoX SDV platform, Renesas can offer a software-first, cross-domain approach that will shorten the time-to-market for the automotive industry,” said Asif Anwar, Executive Director of Automotive Market Analysis at TechInsights.

As part of the R-Car next-generation family, Renesas is also extending its vehicle control portfolio with a new R-Car MCU series, which will be also powered by ARM. Renesas plans to sample a new 32-bit MCU series with enhanced security for body and chassis applications in Q1/2025.

The newly launched R-Car Open Access (RoX) SDV platform integrates all essential hardware, operating systems (OS), software and tools needed for automotive developers to develop next-generation vehicles with secure and continuous software updates. RoX provides OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers the flexibility to virtually design a broad range of scalable compute solutions for ADAS, IVI, gateway, and cross-domain fusion systems as well as body control, domain, and zone control systems.

 Renesas is demonstratingthe R-Car Gen 5 development environment at electronica 2024 this week in Munich, Germany.

The R-Car X5H will be sampling to select automotive customers in 1H/2025, with production scheduled in 2H 2027.