Connected Car News: Synopsis, OmniVision, StradVision, Green Hills, Wunder, Intron, Wind River & Kia

In connected car news this week are Synopsis, OmniVision Technologies, StradVision, Green Hills Software, Wunder Mobility, Intron, Wind River and Access Co and Kia.

Synopsys FS Derivative & LucidShape

Synopsys, Inc. announced new functional safety (FS) derivatives of its popular DesignWare ARC processor IP to simplify and accelerate the development of automotive system-on-chips (SoCs). The safety-enhanced processor portfolio, which includes the Synopsys DesignWare ARC EM22FS, HS4xFS, and EV7xFS processors, covers a broad range of automotive use cases from ultra-low power control modules to artificial intelligence (AI)-based vision processing. The Synopsys ARC “FS” cores integrate hardware safety features, such as redundant processors, error-correcting code (ECC), parity protection, safety monitors, and user-programmable windowed watchdog timers, to detect system errors. Comprehensive documentation related to safety, including enhanced-safety manuals, FMEDA, and DFMEA reports accelerate SoC-level functional safety assessments. In addition, the Synopsys DesignWare ARC MetaWare Development Toolkit for Safety (EM22FS, HS4xFS) and MetaWare EV Development Toolkit for Safety (EV7xFS) help simplify the development of ISO 26262-compliant software.

The Synopsys DesignWare ARC EM22FS processor provides ultra-low power, dual-core lockstep functionality for ASIL D safety requirements in applications such as automotive sensors, braking and steering systems, and keyless entry. For use cases with ASIL B requirements (i.e., non-lockstep), the processor can be configured with the two cores operating independently. The Synopsys DesignWare ARC HS4xFS processors support single-, dual-, and quad-core implementations to enable high-performance safety applications, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) networking, and electric vehicle battery charging.  In addition, the ARC EM22FS and HS4xFS processors can function as ASIL D compliant SoC-level safety managers with tight integration to Synopsys test solutions, including DesignWare STAR® Memory System, STAR Hierarchical System, STAR ECC, and TestMAX XLBIST, to provide a comprehensive functional safety test solution. The processors are supported by the Synopsys DesignWare ARC MetaWare Development Toolkit for Safety, a complete solution for developing, debugging and optimizing embedded software targeted for automotive applications. Included in the toolkit is an ASIL D certified compiler and collateral related to safety, including a safety manual and safety guide, to help developers of safety-critical systems fulfill the requirements of the ISO 26262 standard and prepare for compliance testing.

Synopsys, Inc.  announced the latest release of its LucidShape® software for the design, simulation, and analysis of automotive exterior lighting products. LucidShape version 2019.09 gives designers new tools to create sophisticated freeform reflectors and dynamic pixel light headlamps, as well as enhanced tools for visualization.

  • New Freeform Design feature: Freeform optical surfaces provide many advantages over conventional optical surfaces for meeting complex illumination requirements such as precise light control, innovative styling, and compactness. LucidShape’s MacroFocal feature for the design of multifaceted reflectors has been augmented with state-of-the-art freeform design capabilities to provide more granular control over light spread, enabling the specification of two-dimensional light target distributions. The new freeform surface capabilities allow designers to minimize or eliminate the need for multiple rows of facets. As a result, stray light caused by gaps between facets can be minimized, flux collection is maximized, and designers can have more freedom to focus on styling and appearance. In addition, the new capabilities can simplify manufacturing-related processes such as reflector metallization and tooling.
  • New Pixel Light features: LucidShape’s Pixel Light features support the efficient design and simulation of high-resolution pixel light headlamps. A pixel light system subdivides the headlamp beam pattern into angular segments that can be controlled individually and adapted dynamically to accommodate changing driving and traffic conditions. One challenge in modeling a pixel light headlamp is the complexity created by the large number of source pixels, each of which must be individually simulated. LucidShape’s Pixel Light design feature streamlines the process of creating the source grid for common pixel headlight configurations. Designers can then perform a complete simulation of the model with the Pixel Light simulator, which efficiently handles a large number of pixels to produce a physically correct beam pattern.
  • Enhanced visualization: The LucidShape human eye vision image (HEVI) capability has been extended to give designers more flexibility to control image brightness, contrast, and color shift. The HEVI capability is included in LucidShape’s Visualization Module, which provides physically accurate photorealistic images of an automotive lighting system’s unlit and lit appearance and enables designers to evaluate how the human eye will perceive a lighting system.

OmniVision Tech SoC

OmniVision Technologies, Inc., a leading developer of advanced digital imaging solutions, announced from the AutoSens conference its 1.3MP OX01F10 SoC, providing automotive designers with the industry’s best imaging performance across a wide range of challenging lighting conditions, along with the most compact form factor and lowest power consumption. In a single, 1/4″ optical format package, the OX01F10 integrates a 3.0 micron image sensor and an advanced image signal processor (ISP), solving the automotive rear view camera (RVC) and surround view system (SVS) challenges of achieving a small form factor with excellent low-light performance, ultra-low power and reduced cost while improving reliability by using only one printed circuit board (PCB).

OmniVision’s dual conversion gain (DCG) technology is employed in this SoC to achieve a high dynamic range of 120dB with only two captures, as opposed to three required by the competition, which minimizes motion artifacts while reducing power consumption and boosting low-light performance. Its integrated ISP further enables superior image quality with a number of advanced features, such as:

  • Lens chromatic aberration correction
  • Advanced noise reduction and local tone mapping
  • Optimizations for the on-chip image sensor’s PureCel®Plus technology

StradVision Front-Camera Project

StradVision has partnered with a leading European OEM and a Korean Tier 1 supplier on a front-camera project that will be a key component of ADAS systems in vehicles that will begin hitting the roadways by late 2020.

Development on the project is scheduled to be completed by early 2020. The project will be centered around StradVision’s deep learning-based SVNet External vision processing software.

StradVision CEO Junhwan Kim said this project is an exciting development, and further proof of StradVision’s growth in the emerging Autonomous Vehicle market.

“StradVision’s SVNet software will be at the core of millions of Autonomous Vehicles around the world in the years to come, and this partnership is an important step in this process,” Kim said. “We appreciate that our continued dedication to achieving the highest standards and maximizing the quality of our software has been recognized by a leading global OEM.”

StradVision’s SVNet External software enables vehicles to execute ADAS and self-driving functions, including:

  • Automatic Emergency Braking
  • Adaptive Cruise Control
  • Lane Departure Warning
  • Blind Spot Detection

StradVision’s deep-learning expertise is a key reason for its growth, as the company’s  algorithms lead the way in object detection (OD) and free space detection (FSD).

StradVision has also earned the coveted ASPICE CL2 certificate, and applies the ISO26262 functional safety standards, allowing StradVision to deliver peak performance to OEMs and Tier 1s.

Green Hills Software & STMicroelectronics

Green Hills Software, the global leader in high-assurance real-time operating systems and virtualization for automotive, announced the availability of the safe and secure INTEGRITY® real-time operating system (RTOS) and its integrated products/services for the Telemaco3P automotive processor from STMicroelectronics. Today, customers are using the highly integrated ST platform in production vehicle programs for secure telematics and connectivity functions. The platform combines the ASIL-certified INTEGRITY RTOS, middleware and ASIL-certified software development tools with the STMicroelectronics automotive processor. Global carmakers and their suppliers can add new levels of safe and secure performance, enabling a wide range of secure telematics applications supporting high-throughput connectivity to the cloud and secure over-the-air firmware upgrades.

ST’s Telemaco3P provides a cost-effective system-on-chip solution for a secure connection between the vehicle and the cloud. It features an asymmetric multicore architecture, embedded Hardware Security Module (HSM), ISO 26262 silicon design up to ASIL-B, independent and isolated CAN control subsystem, Ethernet AVB and optimized power management.

The INTEGRITY real-time operating system architecture was designed and certified for life-critical embedded systems. For over two decades customers have successfully relied on INTEGRITY for the most critical functions – to fly passenger aircraft, control surgical devices and run intelligent automotive driver assistance systems. INTEGRITY separation architecture enables software teams to safely and securely run software of different levels of criticality on the same processor while guaranteeing software tasks can access the system resources they need.

The Green Hills Platform for Secure Connected Car offers a comprehensive list of capabilities for customers.

Wunder Mobility Funding

Wunder Mobility, the fastest-growing mobility technology company in Europe,  announced its official U.S. headquarters based in Los Angeles. The company also announced it has completed $60 million in Series B financing from existing investors, including Blumberg Capital and KCK. The expansion and new capital will enhance Wunder Mobility’s capabilities to provide innovative mobility technology to enable companies, municipalities and fleet operators to improve urban transportation and provide infrastructure for the smart cities of the future.

Wunder Mobility is the go-to technology service provider to major OEMs, cities and mobility start-ups across the world, including Daimler, Toyota, Yamaha, BMW, Volkswagen as well as the city of Hamburg. In the United States, Wunder is currently working with an automotive company as well as some exciting early-stage start-ups. For example, Caramel, a car-sharing startup and Kuhmute, a charging station provider from Flint Michigan.

Bosch Esitronic 2.0

An increasing number of modern passenger cars, vans and LCVs is equipped with driver assistance systems detecting critical situations via camera systems and radar sensors. They warn the driver and intervene in case of imminent danger. Automotive workshops thus have to calibrate these systems more and more frequently once they completed repair or maintenance tasks. By means of its DAS 3000, Bosch now provides a universal and computer- based calibration and adjustment device for driver assistance systems. Its vehicle specific calibration targets make DAS 3000 suitable for vehicles of all common manufacturers. The system works in combination with the Bosch diagnostic software Esitronic 2.0 online and a diagnostic tester. This flexible and powerful complete solution provides workshops with quick access to different diagnostic procedures for the calibration of driver assistance systems of different vehicle manufacturers.

Intron Works with Wind River

Intron Technology Holdings Limited (“Intron Technology” or the “Group”; HKEX: 1760), a fast-growing automotive electronics solutions provider in China, has recently engaged in a major new collaboration, signing a strategic cooperation agreement with Wind River, a world-leading provider of software for critical infrastructure. The parties will collaborate in the development of an embedded software system for automotive electronics, aimed at providing safer and more reliable smart automotive electronics systems solutions to automakers and to jointly promote the growth of domestic advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) technology and the autonomous vehicle industry in China.

With vehicles becoming more intelligent and possessing higher computing capabilities, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) incorporated in smart vehicles featuring autonomous driving need to comprehend and assess their immediate surroundings in an intelligent manner, and this has resulted in the rapid rise in complexity of automotive system operating software. Towards this end, Intron Technology and Wind River will collaborate on in-depth research into key ADAS technologies and platform solutions.

The parties will combine their respective strengths, experience and resources and develop state-of-the-art embedded functional safety software system operations platforms and Adaptive AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture (AUTOSAR). They will also cooperate in such areas as developing environment, functional safety certifications, intellectual property rights and deliverables.

ACCESS CO for Android Bosch

ACCESS CO., LTD today announced that an integration of its ACCESS Twine™ for Car (Twine4Car) automotive infotainment service platform will be available for Bosch’s Android-based in-vehicle infotainment-system (IVI). The collaboration helps Bosch extend its core platform with a flexible app solution, which also includes an app store, a fully OEM brandable HMI, media sharing and multi-device synchronised content playback. T

“In-vehicle infotainment systems are an increasingly important factor in car purchasing decisions, so it’s important that companies like ACCESS and Bosch are working together to show just how exciting and personalized today’s infotainment solutions can be,” said Dr. Neale Foster, CEO at ACCESS Europe, “By combining our app store, content portfolio and media solutions, Bosch can offer an even more sophisticated infotainment system that will enable car OEMs to offer engaging in-car experiences that will drive future consumer car buying choices.”

Features available:

  • ACCESS Twine™ for Car 2.0 – a unique solution that combines a white-labelled content streaming service with an infotainment services platform.
  • ACCESS Twine for Car™ App Store – an automotive app store that enables OEMs to deliver extended functionality over the vehicle lifetime without the need for costly Over The Air (OTA) vehicle updates.
  • ACCESS Twine™ for Car HMI – A custom human machine interface (HMI) created for IAA to show how OEMs can provide a branded experience for their customers. Features include local media and app playback on Bosch IVI devices

ACCESS’ solutions have been shipped in over 1.5 billion devices worldwide to provide connected entertainment in cars, smartphones, tablets, game consoles and more. ACCESS works with Tier 1s, studios, broadcasters, content rights owners, consultants, the legal profession, licensing and collecting societies, Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology and infrastructure providers to enable the integration and provisioning of state-of-the-art content and streaming services.

Hyundai Develops Center Airbag

Hyundai Motor Group (The Group), Kia Motors parent company, has developed a new center side airbag, further enhancing the safety of its vehicles. The airbag works to separate the space between driver and passenger. The Group will roll out the technology in upcoming vehicles including Kia models.

This new, additional airbag expands into the space between driver and passenger seats to prevent head injuries of passengers in the front row. If there is no one in the front passenger seat, the airbag will protect the driver from side collision coming from the right side (left side in right hand drive cars). The center side airbag is installed inside the driver’s seat and will deploy once the impact is sensed.

The new center side airbag is expected to diminish head injuries caused by passengers colliding with each other by 80 per cent.

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