News highlights:
- For the first time, Arm ecosystem delivers new hardware and immediate software enablement from day one, accelerating automotive development cycles by up to two years
- Virtual prototyping solutions with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cadence, Corellium, Siemens and others will enable development of software applications ahead of physical silicon being available
- New safety-enabled Arm Automotive Enhanced (AE) processors will bring leading-edge Armv9 and server-class performance to AI-driven use cases
- Arm Compute Subsystems (CSS) for Automotive will further reduce development time and cost for high-performance automotive systems
The proliferation of AI in automotive requires unprecedented compute performance and efficiency while keeping safety as the number one priority – and at the same time we’re seeing an explosion of software in this space. Vehicle electronics are becoming more complex, so to innovate at pace and achieve faster time to market, a fundamental rethink of product development is needed. Traditional automotive development cycles are linear: Processor IP is delivered, silicon development begins, and when hardware becomes available around two years later, software developers start to build solutions on top of it.
To enable the automotive industry to accelerate this development cycle, today Arm and our ecosystem are unveiling a new suite of hardware and software platforms designed to meet the performance, safety, and AI demands of modern vehicles. With new virtual platforms and software solutions made available alongside leading-edge hardware IP from day one, we can save the industry up to two years of development time because they can immediately start innovating without having to wait for silicon to be in production.
Looking ahead, and extending from Arm’s strength in the infrastructure market, we are investing in a roadmap of Arm Compute Subsystems (CSS) for automotive, designed to enable partners to move faster, be more agile, and achieve better TCO.
More AI and software in the car will save lives and deliver new experiences, but needs faster development cycles and leading-edge hardware foundations
The driving experience is being redefined by a surge of software needs and AI advances, which will ultimately save lives. To achieve this, more compute is needed, faster. Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) need more AI-optimized compute for vehicle, pedestrian, and object detection, and safety-critical decision making for braking and steering. Meanwhile, software continues to define the in-vehicle experience. We’re seeing increasing demand for richer, more sophisticated user interfaces along with over-the-air (OTA) updates leading to smoother, safer, and more seamless driver and passenger experiences — whether that’s updated navigation and car information or the latest entertainment for passengers.
To keep up with the demand for more advanced vehicle systems, software and hardware must be enabled simultaneously. That’s why today, we are announcing:
New virtual platforms: Along with leading cloud and virtual platform providers, we’re launching a range of automotive virtual prototyping offerings based on the latest Arm Automotive Enhanced (AE) IP. These are designed to enable automotive developers to work ahead of physical silicon being available. Initial partners delivering virtual platforms and cloud solutions include AWS, Cadence, Corellium, Siemens and others, with a roadmap of additional platforms planned for this year and beyond. Read more here.
New software solutions: We are collaborating with the ecosystem to enable full stack software solutions on these new virtual platforms. These cover applications across the vehicle along with foundational automotive software developed in partnership with industry leaders including Autoware Foundation, BlackBerry QNX, Elektrobit, Kernkonzept, Sensory, Tata Technologies, Vector and more. This software collaboration builds on the incredible work already being done through the SOAFEE initiative. Read more and see our full list of partners here.
New next-generation hardware foundations, purpose-built for automotive: For the first time, leading-edge technologies are being added to the Arm AE IP portfolio based on the Armv9 architecture, including the expertise and server-class performance leadership of our Arm Neoverse platform:
- Arm Neoverse V3AE: Bringing Neoverse technology to the automotive sector for the first time, delivering server-class performance for AI-accelerated autonomous and ADAS workloads
- Arm’s first v9-based Cortex-A processors purpose-built for automotive:
- Arm Cortex-A720AE: Delivering industry-leading sustained performance with SoC design flexibility for a broad range of software-defined vehicle (SDV) applications
- Arm Cortex-A520AE: Providing leading power efficiency with functional safety features to scale across automotive use cases
- Arm Cortex-R82AE: The highest-ever performing real-time processor for functional safety
- Arm Mali-C720AE: A configurable ISP optimized for the most demanding computer and human vision use cases
• A range of configurable system IP to enable the Arm silicon ecosystem to deliver scalable, high-performance automotive SoCs
Read more about this new technology, which is already being adopted by leading players, including Marvell, MediaTek, NVIDIA, NXP, Renesas, Telechips, Texas Instruments, and others, in this blog post.
Arm has been trusted by the automotive industry for more than 30 years, and our market-leading safety-enabled hardware foundations are pervasive across the full range of vehicle applications from bumper to bumper. Looking ahead, Arm CSS for Automotive will deliver pre-integrated and validated configurations of Arm AE IP optimized for performance, power and area using a leading-edge foundry process. Our first CSS for automotive is expected to be delivered in 2025.
Today’s announcement marks a critical step in enabling the automotive ecosystem by unlocking new opportunities for developers and accelerating time to market for leading OEMs, automotive Tier 1 suppliers, silicon partners, and software providers that are all building the future of software-defined vehicles, on Arm.
Dipti Vachani
SVP and GM, Automotive Line of Business, Arm
About Arm
Arm technology is building the future of computing. Our energy-efficient processor designs and software platforms have enabled advanced computing in more than 280 billion chips and our technologies securely power products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer. Together with 1,000+ technology partners, we are enabling artificial intelligence to work everywhere, and in cybersecurity, we are delivering the foundation for trust in the digital world – from chip to cloud. The future is being built on Arm.
