Collaboration accelerates development of automotive applications

With this port, developers working on advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), human machine interface (HMI), autonomous driving system and other automotive applications requiring the high computational capabilities of Tensilica processors can start early development of automotive applications on the TOPPERS automotive kernel.

Automotive electronic systems are increasing exponentially in complexity, making it increasingly challenging for electronic control units (ECUs) to perform their specific control functions while also connecting to the various automotive networks reliably. The AUTOSAR architecture organises the building blocks that compose the ECU software stack, allowing multiple suppliers and OEMs to collaborate on the development of critical system components. Reuse of well-defined software components allows ECUs to be developed quickly and efficiently, and systems are becoming more heterogeneous in their deployment of processors and DSPs.

The broadly adopted and production-proven TOPPERS ATK2-SC1 real-time operating system (RTOS) automotive kernel, which manages the detailed timing of software tasks in automotive system control applications, is one of the most critical of these software building blocks. Now that Nagoya University and Cadence have ported the ATK2-SC1 to the Tensilica processor family, ECU developers can take advantage of the Tensilica DSP architectures to optimise their processors for their specific application without changing the RTOS automotive kernel. This enables them to start early development of automotive applications on the AUTOSAR OS while maintaining the high quality and dependability required for safety-critical automotive systems.

“With the growing popularity of ADAS and autonomous driving applications, automotive is becoming an increasingly promising market for the electronics industry. As a result, we are seeing growing demand for a standard platform for application development,” said Hiroaki Takada, Ph.D., a Professor in the Embedded Real Time System Laboratory at Nagoya University. “Through our recent collaboration with Cadence, we were able to validate the TOPPERS automotive kernel running on Tensilica DSPs and make it available for embedded software engineers to start their early development.”

“This collaboration with Nagoya University supports Cadence’s automotive ADAS enablement strategy and marks the first time the AUTOSAR software layer has been ported to a Tensilica processor,” said Raja Tabet, Corporate Vice President, Emerging Technologies at Cadence. “Many automotive applications such as radar, lidar, vision and audio/noise reduction are computationally intensive and therefore well suited to Tensilica DSPs, which are highly customisable to the specific tasks. Support for AUTOSAR via the ATK2-SC1 enables developers to take advantage of the computational benefits of Tensilica DSPs while maintaining portable, platform-independent code.”

The TOPPERS ATK2-SC1 port supports all Tensilica processors and DSPs. Cadence will be demoing the ATK2-SC1 on Tensilica processors at CDNLive Japan 2017, being held 21st July in Yokohama.