Renesas Electronics reveals enhanced user experience with integrated cockpit solution

Renesas Electronics Corporation, the leading supplier of microcontrollers, has announced that it is enhancing the driving experience with robust new solutions for the integrated car cockpit.

As the newest member of Renesas’ state-of-the-art R-Car Series for automotive, the R-Car E2 automotive systems-on-chip (SoCs) and the new R-Car E2 software development board deliver optimised infotainment and display audio for entry-level integrated cockpit systems that support smartphone interoperability and, in combination with other Renesas R-Car Series devices, help achieve the scalability required to bridge the full range of integrated cockpit systems from entry-level to high-end models.

In an integrated cockpit, the converged system integrates and analyzes multiple streams of information and reports the results to the driver in an optimized format, which is increasingly delivered through interoperation with smartphones. This convergence is driving demand for higher level functionality and greater added value for entry-level applications.

Display audio systems are one growth area that is well suited for smartphone inter-operation. This interoperability makes it possible to provide functionality that has been difficult to implement in the vehicle information system itself, and the range of functions is expected to continue expanding. This requires a broad scope of support, including support for interfaces enabling connections with multiple smartphones and sufficient speed to accommodate the broad range of applications accessed via these connections.

As a result, software development has become more challenging, and the resulting slowdown in development speed and sudden increase in development costs are becoming key issues.

As the integrated cockpit becomes mainstream, it is generating a wide variety of implementations. OEMs and Tier-1s are looking for automotive suppliers to provide a broad product lineup that is flexible enough to support these many variations, and the ability to reuse software across the entire product lineup – key requirements that must be met to enable the realization of integrated cockpit systems.

The key features of the R-Car E2 solution include Performance and functions optimized for display audio and entry-level integrated cockpit systems, scalability to support a wide variety of requirements, and highly accessible development environment for ease of design.

Samples of the Renesas R-Car E2 SoC are available now. Mass production is scheduled to begin in June 2016 and is expected to reach a combined production volume of 500,000 units per month by June 2017.