Accelerating Software Development for Infineon’s New AURIX™ RC1 Microcontroller Family

Vehicles are becoming smarter, more connected, and more software-defined, leading to massive changes in vehicle architecture, and all the while new physical AI applications are emerging. The microcontrollers at the heart of these systems must deliver more real-time performance, safety, security, and edge AI capability, while the software running on them must be ready earlier than ever.

To address these needs, Infineon Technologies has introduced the AURIX™ RC1, a new microcontroller platform, that’s built on the open RISC-V architecture. The RC1 redefines real-time compute and control, benefitting from generations of automotive experience in safety, security, and real-time performance and thanks to a long-standing partnership, Synopsys has been there for the ride, delivering Virtualizer™ Development Kits (VDKs) since the origins of AURIX™ microcontrollers.

The success of AURIX™ RC1 requires a working software ecosystem from day one to reduce migration efforts and accelerate development. It needs a coordinated approach, that’s why Infineon are offering the DRIVECORE™ software portfolio, where customers can access everything they need to get started; compiler, debugger, AUTOSAR and open-source software, all ahead of silicon availability. Synopsys is helping to enable this rollout with the RC1 VDK.

“We consider the introduction of our new AURIX RC1 family much beyond the new microcontroller architecture itself,” said Thomas Schneid, Vice President Software and Ecosystem Management at Infineon. “Our new open architecture based on RISC-V comes with a growing holistic ecosystem. Together with partners like Synopsys, we are creating an open and scalable software, tools and services environment that enables customers to build on their existing investments, simplify migration, and accelerate innovation on AURIX RC1.”

Developing a VDK requires close collaboration, combining Synopsys’ modeling know-how with Infineon’s detailed knowledge of automotive applications and chip design, so the VDK reflects the real hardware. Infineon’s own teams use it, and Infineon offers Synopsys VDKs to customers through its DRIVECORE™ software bundle and toolchain portfolio.

• Reduce costs by shifting software development, validation, and integration to virtual environments long before hardware is available. Save time and money by finding bugs early and before hardware is available.
• Faster debug and integration with advanced debug, trace, and analysis features for rapid identification and resolution of issues in complex software stacks
• Support for continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) workflows with automated testing, validation, and regression analysis
• Accurate, high-performance software execution with silicon-like performance, enabling fast iterations of application workloads
• Scalability from microcontroller to subsystem to SoC to full system with the industry’s broadest electronic control unit (ECU) model library for building full vehicle environments

Advanced vehicle features, for now and in the future, require innovative solutions to meet performance goals and ever-shrinking product schedules. The new Infineon AURIX RC1 microcontroller family has the power and flexibility to support these features, and the Synopsys VDK for this family is an electronics digital twin that accelerates software development and reduces time to market This latest in an ongoing series of collaborations shows once again that great partnerships make great solutions possible.