R-Car S4 starter kit enables rapid software development for automotive gateway systems

The R-Car S4 Starter Kit is a low-cost, readily available development board for building software using the Renesas R-Car S4 system on chip (SoC). The SoC delivers high computing performance and an array of communication features for both cloud communication and safe vehicle control.

The new starter kit is a less-expensive and readily-available option compared to the existing R-Car S4 Reference Board, which provides a full-scale development environment including an evaluation board and software. Engineers can take advantage of the new kit to easily start their initial evaluation of car servers, connected gateways, connectivity modules, and more, for rapid application development.

“The R-Car S4 SoC has already been well received by our customers as a choice for gateway SoCs that support the evolution of E/E architecture," said Takeshi Fuse, Head of Marketing and Business Development, High Performance Computing, Analog & Power Solutions Group at Renesas. “At the same time, our customers requested a development environment that can be used widely across their design teams, while keeping the cost down. This low-cost board addresses the need, and we are confident that it will accelerate their vehicle development.”

The R-Car S4 Starter Kit includes essential R-Car S4 interfaces such as Ethernet TSN switch and CAN FD, as well as memory such as 4GB (Gigabyte) of LPDDR4, 128GB of UFS (Universal Flash Storage), and 64MB (Megabyte) of Quad SPI flash memory. In addition, users can easily expand peripheral functions by using expansion connectors and customise the hardware according to individual needs.

Furthermore, Renesas provides the R-Car S4 Whitebox SDK, an open-source automotive development environment for the R-Car S4, which can be combined with the R-Car S4 Starter Kit. The SDK consists of FoC (Free of Charge) software and can be easily used without the need for complicated license agreements. The SDK includes sample software, test programs, and resource monitoring tools for OTA (Over-The-Air software updates), IPS (Intrusion Prevention System), and IDS (Intrusion Detection System) for network security, allowing for various prototyping and evaluation. Users can use the sample software as a base to develop their own applications. This kit shortens development time and reduces energy consumption, thus imposing less impact on the environment.

Availability

The R-Car S4 Starter Kit is available from major distributors or via a Renesas local sales representative.

The R-Car S4 Whitebox SDK will be available by the end of August.