Renesas R-Car Starter Kit Adopted as a Standard Reference Platform for Automotive Grade Linux to Accelerate IVI Development for Next-Generation Connected Cars

TOKYO, Japan, May 24, 2017 - Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced that Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) has adopted the Renesas R-Car Starter Kit as one of its standard reference platforms for software development. AGL is a collaborative open source project that is bringing together automakers, suppliers and technology companies to build a Linux-based, open software platform for automotive applications that can serve as the de facto industry standard. Its adoption of the Renesas R-Car Starter Kit makes it easy for software developers to acquire the hardware environment that runs software developed by this project and allows them to quickly and easily develop in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) application software for next-generation connected cars.

The R-Car Starter Kit supports the Unified Code Base (UCB) 3.0, which the AGL project released in January 2017. The R-Car Starter Kit enables the up-to-date 64-bit software development environment, which unlike the earlier 32-bit environment, allows the latest IT solutions, including container technology (Note 1), to be applied seamlessly to automotive applications.

In addition, two IVI development expansion boards from a Renesas partner (Note 2) that can be used with the R-Car Starter Kit will be available in July 2017. The standard expansion board includes multiple displays and a wide range of network interfaces and the advanced model provide interfaces that can be expanded to up to eight channels of camera input as well as high-speed/large-capacity storage.

Software developers can easily maintain IVI software development with the latest software development environment platform that will serve as the industry standard, and the expansion boards optimized for IVI development. This platform and board access, along with the support provided by the free-of charge Renesas libraries and the R-Car ecosystem that consists of over 190 companies, allows software developers to quickly develop IVI application software and reduce costs.

Renesas will participate as a gold sponsor, in the Automotive Linux Summit (ALS) to be held from May 31, 2017 at the Tokyo Conference Center. In addition to an exhibition of the latest AGL development environments, Renesas will demonstrate its state-of-the-art connected car cockpit that connect to cloud IT services.

"Renesas is a passionate and active supporter of open source and understands the impact that Automotive Grade Linux will have on development and enabling rapid innovation across the industry,” said Dan Cauchy, Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux, The Linux Foundation. “By adopting the Renesas R-Car Starter Kit as one of our standard reference platforms, developers will be able to quickly and easily develop applications using the AGL Unified Code Base.”

"We are pleased that our R-Car Starter Kit has been adopted as one of the standard reference platforms by the AGL project dedicated to creating industry-standard advanced open source software," said Masahiro Suzuki, Vice President, Head of Automotive Information Solution Business Division, Renesas Electronics Corporation. "Software developers will now have access to both R-Car Starter Kit hardware and AGL Unified Code Base, which allows them to put all their efforts into developing even higher level specialized software. Renesas hopes to contribute to increasing the pace of innovation of new IVI developments across the industry.”

(Note 1) Containers are a type of virtualization technology that are incorporated into systems where they are combined with the execution environment that the applications require. This technology has received much attention in recent years from the IT industry since it can significantly reduce software management costs.

(Note 2) Products of SHIMAFUJI Electric Incorporated

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) delivers trusted embedded design innovation with complete semiconductor solutions that enable billions of connected, intelligent devices to enhance the way people work and live. A global leader in microcontrollers, analog, power, and SoC products, Renesas provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of automotive, industrial, infrastructure, and IoT applications that help shape a limitless future. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

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