Connected Car News: Block Harbor, Argus, Leapmotor, Elektrobit, NXP, Hyundai, Tenstorrent, bp ventures, Dynamon & BMW

In connected car news are Block Harbor, Argus, Leapmotor, Elektrobit, NXP, Hyundai, Tenstorrent, bp ventures, Dynamon and BMW.

Block Harbor @ ACM

Block Harbor joins American Center Mobility as their Executive-in-Residence for mobility cybersecurity. In March 2023, ACM released a new strategic plan to broaden their focus to advancing safe, sustainable, and secure mobility technologies. Through this partnership, ACM and Block Harbor will collaborate to develop cybersecurity offerings and promote the cybersecurity ecosystem at ACM’s global development center to help the industry meet regulations and alignment with standards for the cybersecurity of vehicles.

With the release of UNECE Cybersecurity (UN R155 and R156), a regulation that aims to enhance the cybersecurity of connected and automated vehicles and provide a common cybersecurity framework for the automotive industry worldwide, there is a growing need for tools, labs, and expertise to ensure compliance to standards.

“Cybersecurity has always been in our line of sight with the work we do in connectivity and automation,” says Reuben Sarkar ACM CEO “Block Harbor will help us bring together the right capabilities and assets to expand our offerings and build our ecosystem in this rapidly growing area.”

Block Harbor is a Detroit-based vehicle cybersecurity software company focused on launching the Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud (VSEC) to vehicle cybersecurity auditors, automakers, and suppliers. With nearly a decade of experience securing vehicles, Block Harbor is at the forefront of the industry, developing solutions that address the pain points in vehicle cybersecurity engineering.

“The future of mobility – highly connected, automated, electric – all depends on passenger trust and faith in the vehicle”, says Block Harbor CEO, Brandon Barry, “ACM understands the importance of cybersecurity in that future. Block Harbor is honored to support the ACM’s cybersecurity in their advanced mobility proving ground.”

Argus Amazon Certification

Argus Cyber Security, a world leader in cyber security products and services for mobility platforms, announced that it has been certified by Amazon as an Authorized Security Lab for Alexa-built in automotive integrations. This approval authorizes Argus to provide automotive-specific security testing services to vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) looking to integrate Alexa within their vehicle systems.

Cars have become an extension of our home and office. Many of us spend hours commuting every day, managing our private and work lives from inside the car.  Addressing this trend, OEMs are integrating Alexa and other voice-activated personal assistants within their In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems, allowing drivers to engage with vehicle functions while keeping their eyes on the road.

OEMs wishing to integrate Alexa in their vehicle are required to conduct and pass a security assessment via one of Amazon’s authorized third-party labs. The evaluation is based on a comprehensive set of security requirements that OEMs must meet before integrating Alexa into their devices. These requirements include access control, software update mechanisms, and vulnerability management, among others.

Argus was certified as an Authorized Security Lab following a due diligence process, during which Argus demonstrated its ability to assess and test a production-ready IVI integrated with Alexa against Amazon’s security requirements. Argus’ award-winning products and services provide comprehensive, proven solutions for all phases of the product development lifecycle, to protect connected cars and commercial vehicles against cyber-attacks.

Leveraging insights gained from over 1,000 person-years of automotive cyber research, Argus’ testing services strengthen vehicle manufacturers’ cyber security posture while enabling compliance with industry regulations and standards. In addition to penetration testing, Argus provides OEMs with a wide range of compliance management, and back-end managed cyber security services.

Leapmotor 4-Leaf Clover

Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) unveiled its latest innovative achievement – ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ Central Integrated Electronic and Electrical Architecture (hereinafter referred to as ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture). The ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture is a fully self-developed technology that combines a single System-on-Chip (SOC) and a single Microcontroller Unit (MCU) to create a central supercomputing unit. It integrates the cockpit system, intelligent driving system, power domain and body domain, utilizing high computing power, fast communication, and low latency to enable efficient collaboration among the key components of EVs.

During the press conference, Mr. Zhu Jiangming, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Leapmotor, emphasized that it is through years of comprehensive self-development that Leapmotor has gained the capability to deeply explore core technologies. The launched ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture efficiently harnesses the full potential of two chips, meeting the diverse requirements of future products and delivering exceptional value for customers. This groundbreaking achievement showcases Leapmotor’s commitment to providing cutting-edge, high-performance products at the pinnacle of cost-effectiveness for its esteemed users.

The ‘Four-Leaf Clover’ architecture achieves a generalization rate of over 90% and offers three configuration options: Standard, Mid-range, and High-end, catering to the 100,000 to 300,000 RMB price range vehicles. The Standard configuration combines a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 SOC and a NXP S32G MCU, the Mid-range configuration adopts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 SOC and a NXP S32G MCU, while the High-end configuration features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 SOC and a NXP S32G MCU in addition to the advanced Orin-X chipset. Furthermore, the system supports L2++ level advanced intelligent driving assistance functions.

It was reported that the ‘Four-leaf Clover’ architecture takes the lead in realizing cabin fusion by applying one SOC+ one MCU, which maximizes the performance of the two chips. It systematically integrates the cockpit system, intelligent driving system, power domain, and body domain, concentrating computing power and enabling centralized information decision-making through the central controller. Analogous to the human brain’s left and right hemispheres, the SOC is responsible for data processing, while the MCU handles logical calculations, achieving the convergence of the four domains. Furthermore, the architecture applies regional control technology to restructure the allocation of vehicle sensors and actuators, establishing standard interface communication. As a result, the entire length of vehicle wiring harness is shortened to an impressive 1.5 km, reaching a top-tier level in the industry.

Elektrobit Support for NXP

Elektrobit  announced that its industry-leading software line for developing automotive electronic control units (ECUs) based on the latest AUTOSAR standards, as well as its Linux solution, now support the new S32G3 vehicle network processor from NXP^® Semiconductors. S32G3 series processors more than double the processing, memory and networking capabilities, while maintaining package pinout and software compatibility with the highly successful S32G2 series of processors. As carmakers migrate to consolidated domain and zonal architectures for software-defined vehicles, the powerful combination of NXP S32G3 hardware and Elektrobit’s EB tresos and EB corbos software can significantly reduce the time and development costs for these complex architectures, accelerating time-to-market for production vehicles.

“We’re pleased to continue our long-standing collaboration with Elektrobit to support our S32G3 safe and secure high-performance vehicle network processors,” said Brian Carlson, Global Marketing Director for Vehicle Control and Networking Solutions at NXP. “The combination of NXP’s S32G3 processor with Elektrobit’s EB tresos and EB corbos software provide a powerful solution for carmakers seeking the most efficient way to develop advanced features and services for their central vehicle computers and safety processors in next-generation architectures.”

The NXP S32G3 vehicle network processors are designed for central vehicle compute applications in zonal-based, software-defined vehicles. They also provide high-performance ASIL D safety processing for AD/ADAS applications, with the same scalability and pinout as previous generation processors.

“The new NXP S32G3 is ideal for next-generation architectures, and we are happy to extend its capabilities with our broad line of AUTOSAR-compliant software, as well as our new EB corbos Linux – built on Ubuntu solution,” said Michael Robertson, vice president, head of products and strategy, Elektrobit. “Together, we’re making it easier for carmakers and suppliers to develop the complex systems required by software-defined vehicles.”

The following Elektrobit software modules support the new NXP S32G3:

• EB tresos AutoCore – leading implementation of Classic AUTOSAR-compliant basic software (BSW) for automotive ECUs that enables applications to leverage the S32G3 hardware
• EB tresos AutoCore OS – embedded, multi-core, real-time operating system that implements the AUTOSAR standard and all its scalability classes
• EB tresos Safety – ECU software developed and integrated in accordance with the ISO 26262 standard and up to the highest Automotive Safety Integrity Level, ASIL D
• EB tresos Safety OS – safe execution environment that combines the flexibility of AUTOSAR multi-core software architectures with powerful safety features for mixed ASIL applications
• EB corbos AdaptiveCore – a software base for safe and secure high-performance controllers that is flexible, scalable, and adaptable to changing regulations in the automotive industry, providing a holistic software framework according to the industry’s new AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform.
• EB corbos Linux – built on Ubuntu – open-source operating system optimized for high-performance computing