Renesas Electronics’ new program simplifies automotive functional safety and security

Renesas Electronics Corporation, which supplies advanced semiconductor solutions, is easing the design complexity for sophisticated automotive systems with its new ‘Safety and Security Support Program for Automotive’, contributing to a safe and secure driving experience.

Designed to reduce the burden on system manufacturers, the new initiative simplifies the implementation of functional safety and security features through an integrated package solution that incorporates ISO26262-certified Renesas automotive semiconductor products, software, analytic tools, work products, instruction, consulting, and more.

Functional safety and security are indispensable for reducing risk factors associated with the reliability and safety of autonomous driving systems. Autonomous emergency braking, automatic tracking, and other operation support systems require more sophisticated automotive electronic control units (ECUs) with higher performance to support the higher control functionality. Likewise, self-driving vehicle control requires complex electronic systems, while at the same time achieving a high level of safety.

The vehicle control required for self-driving vehicles must work cooperatively with infrastructure information from external sources, such as other vehicles and traffic signals, so communication with the vehicle’s surroundings becomes an important factor. With this communication comes new security considerations. Greater awareness of the security risks associated with these types of external vehicle communications is driving a global move toward standardisation. The new security standards incorporate elements such as threat analysis and risk analysis, and achieving compliance is expected to impose an increasing development burden moving forward.

According to Renesas, with the achievement of the ISO 26262 international functional safety standard for electric and electronic automotive systems, the associated development burden on system manufacturers has increased by around 40 to 50 percent. It requires several actions in addition to non-safety and security actions, including constructing a safety concept, quantitative and qualitative safety analysis, and confirmation measures. There is also a move to develop the second edition of the ISO 26262 standard, which will result in additional requirements and further development burden increase on manufacturers.

The company says it is to address the growing demands on system manufacturers to implement these complex systems that it has launched the Safety and Security Support Program for Automotive. This new type of solution leverages the company’s core expertise in functional safety and security technology to achieve a new level of automotive safety and security, including reducing the development burden, while contributing to the early realisation of self-driving vehicles. The program will cover Renesas’ automotive semiconductor products, beginning with a solution for body systems employing the RH850 Family of microcontrollers (MCUs). The first offering will be available from January 30, 2015.