Storage challenges for autonomous driving

The consortium consists of Hyperstone, Mercedes Benz, Continental, Micron, and LUBIS as well as research partners Fraunhofer IESE, TU Kaiserslautern and the Konstanz HTWG. The project, funded by the BMBF MANNHEIM as part of the Zukunftsfonds Automobile Industry aims to research high-performance computing platforms, innovative vehicle architectures and future-orientated software development processes.

In automotive, to curb cost and ensure energy efficiency, control devices implemented, have increasingly used components that were originally designed for consumer applications. This is particularly the case with memories such as DRAM and NAND flash, which play an integral role in enabling advanced features and handling the increasing amount of data generated and processed within vehicles. However, DRAM and NAND flash face challenges in terms of performance, energy efficiency and functional safety since the majority are not qualified for safety-critical applications.

Current demands on computing power, flexibility and efficiency call for new approaches in microelectronics as well as in computing and software architecture. The overarching focus of the MEMTONOMY project is to identify new concepts to increase reliability within demanding automotive storage. The projects aim to increase storage bandwidth while reducing latency and energy consumption should be made possible by a new flash controller architecture and an optimization of the memory data and access. Hyperstone has joined the project to share insights and experience in developing reliable storage applications and their software architecture will be critical in ensuring all systems meet the ISO 26262 safety standard necessary for applications in vehicles.