Green Hills Enhances Automotive Microcontrollers with Infineon Aurix TC4x Integration
In a significant development for the automotive industry, Green Hills Software has announced the porting of its µ-velOSity real-time operating system (RTOS) to the advanced Infineon Aurix TC4x safety microcontrollers. This strategic collaboration promises to bolster the development of pioneering software-defined vehicle (SDV) architectures. The integration will be showcased at the upcoming Embedded World exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany, offering attendees a firsthand look at this cutting-edge technology.
The Aurix TC4x family represents a leap forward from its predecessor, the TC3x series, offering an array of enhanced features that cater to the evolving needs of automotive systems. At its core, the next-generation TriCore 1.8 processor is complemented by a scalable suite of accelerators, including the innovative Parallel Processing Unit (PPU). These enhancements facilitate improved performance in key areas such as data routing, digital signal processing, radar processing, and cryptographic computing. Moreover, the TC4x family supports high-speed communication interfaces like Gigabit Ethernet, PCIe, CAN-XL, and 10BASE T1S Ethernet, ensuring ample bandwidth for future automotive applications.
By combining Green Hills’ µ-velOSity RTOS with Infineon’s Aurix TC4x microcontrollers, OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers are equipped with a robust platform for developing the electronic control units (ECUs) crucial for domain and zonal controllers, as well as electrified drivetrains. This integration is pivotal for the creation of reliable, high-performance SDVs, joining another notable collaboration on the CoreRide software-defined vehicle architecture for NXP S32 chips, which also utilizes Green Hills’ software and tools.
Thomas Schneid, Senior Director for Software, Partnership, and Ecosystem Management at Infineon, lauded Green Hills’ tools and software environment, highlighting the synergy between Green Hills’ offerings and Infineon’s microcontroller products. This collaboration is positioned to provide customers with a competitive edge in addressing their critical system requirements.
From Green Hills’ perspective, Dan Mender, Vice President of Business Development, expressed enthusiasm about the continued partnership with Infineon and the opportunity to demonstrate their joint solution at Embedded World 2024. Mender emphasized the significant benefits that the integration of Green Hills’ µ-velOSity RTOS with Infineon’s AURIX TC4x microcontrollers will bring to developers of SDV E/E architectures, particularly in terms of safety and security.
The new generation of automotive ECUs necessitates microcontrollers that not only offer enhanced performance but also meet the stringent safety requirements of systems controlling zones, chassis, radar, and electric drives, along with affordable AI systems. The Aurix TC4x devices stand out by blending their TriCore multicore architecture with an extensive safety and security accelerator suite. Furthermore, the Green Hills MULTI integrated development environment supports this processor family, enabling developers to expedite the development process through increased productivity and optimized code generation for these advanced microcontrollers.
Targeted at achieving the highest functional safety levels (ISO 26262 ASIL D), the Green Hills µ-velOSity RTOS is distinguished by its efficient and reliable kernel. With its minimal footprint, streamlined execution, and fast boot capabilities, µ-velOSity ensures optimal performance. Additionally, this RTOS is seamlessly integrated with the MULTI safety-certified tools and compilers, further enhancing the development environment for safety-critical automotive applications.
As the automotive industry continues its march towards more sophisticated and software-centric vehicle designs, partnerships like that of Green Hills and Infineon are setting the stage for the next wave of innovation in automotive technology.
