Renesas automotive chip runs Android P with OpenSynergy hypervisor

Renesas Electronics has seen OpenSynergy’s COQOS hypervisor run Android P as a guest OS on its R-Car H3 automotive system-on-chip (SoC) device.

The hypervisor makes it possible to execute both the instrument cluster functionality, including safety-relevant display elements based on Linux, and the Android-based in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) on a single R-Car H3 SoC chip. 

The COQOS hypervisor SDK shares the R-Car H3 GPU with Android and Linux allowing applications to be presented on multiple displays.

The R-Car H3 running OpenSynergy’s COQOS hypervisor SDK has been adopted on Parrot Faurecia’s automotive safe multi-display cockpit. 

“OpenSynergy’s hypervisor technology on the Renesas R-Car H3 platform brings safety and scalability to our front and rear infotainment systems,” said Frederic Fonsalas, director of strategy at Parrot Faurecia Automotive. 

“Our first multi display cockpit domain controller using this technology will go to production in 2019 with a European Premium car maker.”

Renesas is targeting the R-Car H3 SoC for for the design of integrated cockpits and connected cars. The hypervisor make it possible to run multiple OSs independently and safely.

The instrument cluster functionality, which requires a high level of reliability, is rendered by Linux. Although Linux is an ideal operating system to render instrument cluster, it cannot provide the required safety (ASIL) level by itself. 

For this reason, OpenSynergy has developed the Safe IC Guard as a safeguard mechanism. It runs on a separate guest OS and verifies that safety-relevant information is displayed correctly.

“The hypervisor SDK takes full advantage of the hardware and software virtualization extensions provided by Renesas,” said OpenSynergy’s CEO Stefaan Sonck Thiebaut. 

“This includes key features, such as shared display, which allows several virtual machines to use multiple displays flexibly and safely.”

The IVI functionality runs on a third guest OS, in this case based on Android. The COQOS Hypervisor SDK has been pre-integrated and tested with the newest versions of Android, including Android P.

Open Synergy’s COQOS hypervisor SDK is built around a safe and efficient hypervisor that can run software from multipurpose OSs such as Linux or Android, RTOS and Autosar-compliant software simultaneously on one SoC. 

Source from:electronicsweekly