Green Hills Software, recognized for its expertise in embedded safety and security, has announced a partnership with NXP Semiconductors to launch a hardware and software solution aimed at the development and deployment of safety-focused, mixed-criticality software-defined vehicle (SDV) zonal architectures using NXP's new S32K5 microcontroller unit (MCU) family. This collaboration introduces a software solution combining the ASIL-D safety-certified µ-velOSity real-time operating system (RTOS), the µ-visor hypervisor, Green Hills Compilers and the advanced MULTI debugger with system visualization tools. This suite of technologies is designed to enable original equipment manufacturers and tier 1 suppliers to consolidate mixed-criticality electronic control unit (ECU) functions safely, reduce system complexity, diminish development costs and accelerate time-to-production, thereby enhancing software reuse across new vehicle programs.
The need for such solutions arises from the automotive industry's shift toward consolidating software features with advanced electronics architectures, necessitating a flexible and performant compute platform. This platform must ensure safety, reduce costs and enhance system reliability, all while enabling rapid development and deployment of complex, multi-operating system and multicore ECU systems. According to David Vieira, senior director at NXP, and Dan Mender, vice president at Green Hills Software, this collaboration addresses these industry challenges by streamlining vehicle development processes without compromising on safety or performance.
The combined hardware-software solution is particularly well-suited for automotive applications requiring up to ISO 26262 ASIL-D certification, such as zone controllers and domain controllers. The S32K5 MCU family provides high performance, robust networking capabilities and innovative safety features at low power consumption levels. The software products from Green Hills Software offer a proven foundation for efficient application development in next-generation SDV architectures, featuring near-zero overhead hypervisor functionality for secure ECU consolidation, a small footprint RTOS and optimizing compilers for peak performance.
Safety and security are paramount, with the S32K5 supporting ASIL-D safety and ISO SAE 21434 automotive cybersecurity standards. The Green Hills technology stack is certified to ISO 26262 ASIL-D, with additional support services available for system design and certification. The MULTI integrated development environment (IDE) streamlines development further by offering advanced debugging capabilities, MISRA C adherence tools and static code analysis, significantly enhancing productivity and reducing time to market.
This comprehensive offering for the S32K5 MCU family was showcased at the embedded world event in March 2025 and is now available to early customers, complete with integration with the Synopsys Virtualizer S32K5 VDK for virtual model simulation, marking a significant advancement in the field of automotive electronics development.
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