Continental AG has announced it will use the R-Car M3 system-on-chip (SoC) of Renesas Electronics Corporation for its first-generation Body High-Performance Computer (HPC). The HPC is an automotive computing platform that provides centralized control of vehicle systems and is equipped with secure gateway functionality to enable cloud service connectivity.

The R-Car M3 supports over-the-air (OTA) software updates with the highest level of security and functional safety, making it possible to centrally control automotive software updates. The R-Car M3 also contributes to the realization of the new electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture concept that helps to improve vehicle performance, safety, and reliability while reducing vehicle weight.

Whether for personal use or mobility services, modern vehicles must be capable of quickly updating software in the field in order to operate efficiently and safely. Performing software updates individually on the dozens of electronic control units (ECUs) installed in a typical vehicle entails challenges, and the versatile R-Car portfolio features scalability to match the requirements of a variety of vehicles and is ideal as a general automotive computing platform.

In addition to the R-Car M3, which delivers 30,000 DMIPS performance, the Renesas R-Car lineup ranges from high-end devices such as the R-Car H3, which is built around eight 64-bit Arm CPU cores and delivers high performance of 45,000 DMIPS, to the R-Car E3 delivering 7,500 DMIPS performance.

The R-Car's virtualization functionality enables the isolation of software connecting to external cloud services and the software that controls the vehicle, enabling them to operate completely independently. This robust separation on a single chip allows the R-Car to act as a safe and secure vehicle gateway.

The R-Car devices also integrate several hardware security features including secure boot and secure network communication via Ethernet to domain controller. They also feature high-speed Gigabit Ethernet to provide the data throughput required for fast software updates and increasing amount of sensor information to support ADAS functions.

In addition, the R-Car can be combined with Renesas' RH850/U2A cross-domain microcontroller (MCU) supporting up to ASIL D functional safety and the company's rich portfolio of automotive power management and timing solutions to form a complete solution for vehicle servers.