Overview

Infineon is the world’s leading automotive semiconductor supplier, headquartered in Neubiberg, Germany. The company specializes in automotive MCUs, and its latest innovation, the AURIX™ TC4x family, is designed for next-generation e-mobility, ADAS, automotive electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures, and affordable AI applications. To enable high-speed, low-latency connectivity between in-vehicle sensors and automotive MCUs, Infineon collaborates with Synopsys, leveraging their Interface IP.

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Challenges

Infineon faced several challenges in developing its latest AURIX™ TC4x family of MCUs:

  • Connectivity Requirements: Ensuring high-speed, low-latency data transfer between in-vehicle sensors and MCUs to support AI algorithms.
  • System Complexity: Reducing the complexity of AI-driven automotive systems while maintaining reliability and performance.
  • Safety and Compliance: Meeting stringent automotive standards, including AEC-Q100 quality and ISO 26262 functional safety standards.

Solution

To tackle these challenges, Infineon partnered with Synopsys to integrate their Interface IP, including PCIe, MIPI, and Ethernet, into the AURIX™ TC4x MCUs. This collaboration provided several key benefits:

  • High-Speed Connectivity: Synopsys' IP enabled the 5Gbps Ethernet, 10BASE T1S Ethernet, PCI Express, and MIPI D-PHY interfaces, ensuring fast and reliable data transfer.
  • Parallel Processing: The inclusion of Synopsys ARC® EV Processor IP powered the PPU in the AURIX™ TC4x family, accelerating AI algorithms such as RNNs, RBFs, CNNs, and multi-layer perceptron.
  • Comprehensive Toolkits: Mutual customers benefited from the Synopsys ARC MetaWare Toolkit and Synopsys Virtualizer™ Development Kit, which provided a complete suite of tools for programming and virtual testing of automotive systems.

Results

The collaboration between Infineon and Synopsys yielded impressive results:

  • Enhanced Performance: The integration of Synopsys Interface IP significantly improved the power, performance, and area (PPA) metrics of the AURIX™ TC4x MCUs.
  • Reliability and Safety: The automotive-grade IP met AEC-Q100 quality standards and ISO 26262 functional safety standards, ensuring high reliability and safety for automotive applications.
  • Reduced Complexity: The advanced features and toolkits provided by Synopsys helped Infineon reduce system complexity and streamline the development process.
  • Future-Ready: The partnership ensured that Infineon's MCUs are equipped to meet evolving automotive standards and support advanced AI-driven applications.

Through this collaboration, Infineon and Synopsys are paving the way for the next generation of high-performing, AI-driven automotive systems, defining what is possible for future automotive designs.