NXP’s S32 processor platform
NXP
NXP Semiconductors has announced a design for control and data processing in the car of the future, regardless of whether the car is electric, fully connected or autonomous. The NXP S32 platform is the "world’s first fully-scalable automotive computing architecture" and will soon be adopted by both premium and volume markets according to a statement by NXP. What makes this platform special is that it offers a unified architecture of microcontrollers (MCUs) and microprocessors (MPUs) and an identical software environment across application platforms. Modern cars have up until now used a mixture of applications with disparate software approaches that have posed major integration difficulties for car makers, NXP explains.
NXP’s S32 architecture
The NXP S32 platform addresses "these challenges with the highest performance MCU in the industry, a smooth transition to MPU performance and an identical software development environment across vehicle applications", NXP explains. Furthermore, this platform offers significant improvements in reliability (reliable to ASIL D), security and over-the-air updates (OTA). The new software development environment allows research and development work to be reused elsewhere and to respond quicker to changing vehicle architectures and short time-to-market cycles.