OpenSynergy has announced that the ‘COQOS Hypervisor Software Development Kit’ (SDK) has been successfully ported to the STMicroelectronics Stellar family of Integrated MCUs. The software firm, based in Berlin, has collaborated with STMicroelectronics to prove that the automotive virtual platform, 'COQOS Hypervisor SDK for real-time processors', uses hardware virtualization and extends it. Virtualization allows automakers to safely and successfully run numerous processes and applications on a shared piece of hardware without interfering with one another. Future generations of the domain and zonal designs will be built on the foundation created by this method technically.
To fully utilize the vast potential of the new class of automotive MCUs, function separation by hardware virtualization is not enough. To further facilitate the integration of several applications and operating systems working simultaneously, various functions are placed side-by-side on virtualization technology such as COQOS Hypervisor SDK. OpenSynergy's COQOS Hypervisor SDK includes a hypervisor and virtual devices, enabling the systems to connect without additional hardware. Thus, ‘VIRTIO-CAN’ is used instead of traditional CAN buses (a CAN implementation in shared memory, instead of wires). Since 2018, OpenSynergy has been an active member of the OASIS Open consortium, specifying the essential devices per the open VIRTIO standard for developing these virtual devices.
Using the COQOS hypervisor in conjunction with STMicroelectronics' Stellar virtualization technology, it is possible to entirely isolate the software from the hardware, allowing the operating systems and the applications executing on them to function in isolation from one another. They can be modularly updated also.
Philippe Prats, Vice President of Automotive Marketing and Applications, EMEA Region, STMicroelectronics said, "We developed Stellar Integration MCUs for Software Defined Vehicles specifically to deliver hardware virtualization able to integrate many real-time and multi-ASIL vECUs".
(Source – CISION PR Web)
Hardware virtualization enables domain functions (such as power distribution, body control, and GW functions) to function concurrently on a single Stellar MCU. Stellar's high-performance, multi-core design expands integrated functions necessary for a zonal or domain-based strategy. Spatial aggregation of functions, such as zonal computers, will be favored by future architectures as it reduces the cabling required for the entire vehicle. In addition, reduced vehicle weight and simplified integration are possible due to the cost savings made possible by harnessing via zonalization and virtual ECUs.
About OpenSynergy
OpenSynergy, founded in 2007 and headquartered in Berlin, provides embedded software products for the next generation of vehicles. Hypervisor and communication products enable integrated driving. It's communications platforms include the automotive-leading Bluetooth stack Blue SDK. Many OEMs use it as their Bluetooth reference. OpenSynergy offers complementary Automotive-Grade software components for the Android Open Source Project to enhance Android's automotive adoption. In addition, it offers engineering services for product customization.