Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics has introduced R-Car Open Access (RoX), a development platform for software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
The platform integrates essential hardware, operating systems, software and tools to facilitate the rapid creation of next-generation vehicles with secure and continuous software updates. Designed for the Renesas R-Car family of system on chips (SoCs) and microcontrollers (MCUs), the RoX platform includes tools for the simple deployment of AI applications, to reduce development complexities for car OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.
RoX is available in two versions. The RoX Whitebox version provides an open, accessible software package that includes royalty-free operating systems and hypervisor software such as Android Automotive OS, FreeRTOS, Linux, Xen and Zephyr RTOS.
RoX Licensed is based on industry-proven commercial software solutions, including QNX and Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System, as well as Autosar-compliant software and SafeRTOS. This version includes pre-validated software stacks from partners like Stradvision for ADAS and Candera CGI Studio for in-vehicle infotainment (IVI).
Modern electrical/electronics (E/E) architecture now relies heavily on software to control vehicle functions and manage real-time data networks. This shift has increased the complexity of maintaining and upgrading software stacks while ensuring the highest levels of safety.
Renesas says the RoX platform aims to address these challenges by providing a cloud-native development environment and a simulation platform, supporting a software-first approach, and parallel hardware and software development.
The platform is designed for the current generation of R-Car SoCs, the upcoming R-Car Gen 5 MCU/SoC Family and future devices. The R-Car Gen 5 family provides a unified hardware architecture based on Arm CPU cores, enabling customers to reuse the same software and tools across different car models and generations.
RoX also includes the Renesas Fast Simulator (RFS) and partner solutions like ASTC VLAB VDM and Synopsys Virtualizer Development Kit (VDK), which aim to let developers design, debug and verify software in simulation before deploying it on live SoCs and MCUs.
For AI development, the RoX platform has an AI Workbench, enabling developers to validate and optimize models and test AI applications in the cloud. This integration also supports rapid AI deployment on the R-Car heterogeneous compute platform.
The RoX platform also supports Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computing services.
Andrea Ketzer, director of technology strategy, automotive and manufacturing at AWS, said, “With Renesas’s R-Car Gen 5 devices supported by the AI Workbench on AWS, customers will achieve faster and more validated simulations and the ability to develop independently of hardware. This step change in development will drive the industry forward and place software innovation at the forefront of mobility.”
The R-Car Open Access Platform is available now with options for licensing. It includes open-source OS, commercial OS, full application software stacks, virtual development, cloud infrastructure and debugging tools.
Vivek Bhan, senior VP and GM of high performance computing at Renesas, said, “Today, car OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers are heavily investing in software development and maintenance. The RoX platform empowers our customers to design vehicles that deliver new value and bring improved safety and delightful comfort experiences to drivers and passengers.”
