Renesas Electronics Corporation has announced a new development board, the R-Car S4 Starter Kit, for automotive gateway systems. As described in a press release, the R-Car S4 Starter Kit provides a full-scale development environment, including an evaluation board and software, and is a less expensive and more readily available option than the existing R-Car S4 Reference Board. The kit is designed so engineers can begin their initial evaluation of vehicle servers, connected gateways, and connectivity modules.
“The R-Car S4 SoC has already been well received by our customers as a choice for gateway SoCs that support the evolution of E/E architecture,” said Takeshi Fuse, Head of Marketing and Business Development, High-Performance Computing, Analog & Power Solutions Group at Renesas. “At the same time, our customers requested a development environment that can be used widely across their design teams while keeping the cost down.”
R-Car S4 Starter Kit Features
The R-Car S4 Starter Kit includes essential interfaces and memory, such as Ethernet TSN switch and CAN FD, 4GB of LPDDR4, 128GB of UFS, and 64MB of Quad SPI flash memory. Renesas added that engineers can expand peripheral functions by using expansion connectors and customize the hardware accordingly. “This low-cost board addresses the need, and we are confident that it will accelerate their vehicle development,” Fuse said.
Renesas will provide the Whitebox SDK, an open-source automotive development environment for the R-Car S4, which can be combined with the R-Car S4 Starter Kit. Whitebox SDK consists of FoC software without license agreements. Renesas said it includes sample software, test programs, and resource monitoring tools for OTA updates, IPS, and IDS for network security. “This kit shortens development time and reduces energy consumption, thus imposing less impact on the environment,” the company said in a press release.
R-Car S4 Starter Kit Availability
As of this writing, the R-Car S4 Starter Kit is available from major distributors or via a Renesas local sales representative. To learn more about the R-Car product lineup, catch this in-depth AutoVision News Radio interview with Daniel Sisco, Senior Director of Digitial Product Strategy at Renesas.
Automotive Cybersecurity Certification
In related news, Renesas announced that its automotive Cyber Security Management System used for developing microcontrollers and SoCs has been defined and implemented according to International Standard ISO/SAE 21434:2021. The CSMS framework applies to Renesas’ design center in Musashi, Japan. It has been certified by TÜV Rheinland Industrie Service GmbH according to the following:
- Automotive CS Management (TÜV Rheinland)
- ISO/SAE 21434 – Automotive Tier Supplier
- ACSM (Automotive Cyber Security Management) 112: ML2: Managed
“With this certification, validated by an independent third party, customers can have confidence that our management of the CSMS process is meeting the requirements defined by ISO/SAE 21434:2021,” said Takashi Yasumasu, Vice President of the HPC Core Technology Division at Renesas. “OEMs and Tier1 suppliers can simplify their vehicle type approval process by utilizing this independent third-party certification instead of conducting their own audits of our process.”
