SoCs and software expand worldwide third-party ecosystem with new suppliers and offerings for ADAS

Texas Instruments (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) today announced theavailability of its Vision Software Development Kit (SDK) offering developers aflexible framework, comprehensive set of hardware device drivers and a usefulset of development tools for more efficient implementations of advanced driverassistance systems (ADAS) on TI’s heterogonous architecture. The innovative TIVision SDK, based on TI’s popular SYS/BIOS RTOS, enables multiple algorithms torun concurrently on numerous heterogonous cores and eases integration of newfunctionality into the system. Additionally, the comprehensive debug andinstrumentation features allow algorithm developers to benchmark and profiletheir algorithms in a system context.

TI is also making libraries available for both itsEmbedded Vision Engine (EVE) and digital signal processor (DSP) on the TDA2xSystem-on-Chip (SoC). The libraries include more than 200 optimized functionsfor both EVE and DSP libraries, providing customers and third parties with thebuilding blocks to jump start development and reduce the time to market. TheEVE and DSP libraries are available for low-to-mid and high-level visionprocessing. At CES 2014, TI showcased a surround view demo and the industry’sfirst 1080p60 dense optical flow in a real-time demo built using the EVE andDSP libraries.

    Category              EVE and DSP Lib examples

    —

    Low-levelProcessing  Integral Image,

                         Gradient, Morphological

                         operation, Histograms

    —                   ———————

    Mid-levelProcessing  HoG, rBRIEF, ORB, Harris,

                         Optical Flow

    —                   ————

    High-level

    Processing           KalmanFiltering, Adaboost

TI’s TDA2x family

The TDA2x, incorporating an innovative VisionAccelerationPac, combines an optimal mix of high performance, vision analytics,video, graphics and general purpose processing cores in a low-power envelope,enabling a broad range of ADAS applications scaling from entry to high performance.Furthermore, TI’s unique Vision AccelerationPac delivers a more than 8xcomputeperformance at the same power budget for advanced vision analytics in a morecost-effective footprint. Built on TI’s extensive knowledge of algorithms anddesigned to meet the dynamic needs of the ADAS market, the VisionAccelerationPac contains one or more multiple EVEs, to offer a purpose builtADAS accelerator like no other on the market today.

Robust third party ecosystem

TI’s expansion of SoCs and software offerings is drivingan increasing number of worldwide ADAS third-party suppliers, offeringalgorithms, services and integration support on TI’s broad portfolio, enablingcustomers to reduce in-house investment, development time and time to market.Many of those ecosystem players leverage TI’s ADAS processors and applaud thelaunch of the latest TDA2x offering:

“The EVE delivers an impressive performance for avariety of ADAS machine-vision algorithms, such as recognition of trafficsigns, vehicles or pedestrians, and structure from motion,” said Dr.Michael Stoecker, Director R&D from ADASENS Automotive GmbH.

“The TDA2x SOCs in combination with the SDK allow usto develop next generation ADAS systems which keep up with the growing featureand performance demand for camera based vision systems,” said Rene Rollig,senior project manager at IAV Automotive Engineering. “The TI ecosystemallows us to implement algorithms and applications efficiently, which were notfeasible before. The new EVE is a powerful companion accelerator, which can beoperated independently and in parallel to the DSP. It unfolds its fullperformance in our target applications especially for frame based imageprocessing. The development tools, libraries and documentation are up to dateand our engineers like to use these tools because of the excellentquality.”

“With deep technological and automotive industryexpertise, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) provides optimization, integrationservices and algorithms to Global Automotive OEMs and Tier-1 players on TI’sADAS SoCs including the latest TDA2x,” said Regu Ayyaswamy, Global Head,Engineering & Industrial Services, TCS. “Texas Instruments is ourstrategic partner in ADAS solution development and we look forward to continueddevelopment of solutions that markets need most.”

“I’m excited by the steep performance increase foreach generation of TI’s ADAS SoCs,” said Felix Eberli, department headembedded and automotive, Supercomputing Systems AG. “This has provenbeneficial for a wealth of ADAS algorithms we have ported to TI SoCs fordifferent tier ones and OEMs. A key differentiator is the power-saving EVEcores with high throughput and zero-overhead background data transfers.”

Dr. Chao-Jung Chen, President of CSSP Inc. said, “TIhas been offering best-in-class SoCs for ADAS space, enabling our team todevelop production quality ADAS algorithms such as lane departure warning,forward collision warning and blind spot detection on TI’s SoC platforms whichare available for TI customers. Moving forward, we are committed to offer ourcurrent algorithms on TI’s next-gen TDA2x platform to realize multi-functionalcapabilities on a single chip.”

“The EVE in TI’s TDA2x offers unparalleled computeperformance in a low-power footprint for vision and video analytics algorithmsin ADAS applications. Integration of the EVE software tools complete with CodeComposer Studio IDE streamlined our workflow, and the examples provided helpedus to rapidly leverage the power of EVE in our embedded ADASapplications,” says Scott Reardon, President and CTO, D3 Engineering.

ISO 26262 Functional Safety Deliverables The TDA2x isunder development respecting the relevant requirements of ISO 26262 functional safetystandard.  Supporting safetydocumentation will be available to customers upon device PPAP and release.

Pricing and availability

TI’s TDA2x and associated Vision SDK and libraries are isintended for high-volume automotive manufacturers. Please contact your local TIsales representative for more information.

For more information

    —  View the real time optical flow and thesurround view and front camera

        analyticson TDA2x SoC demo videos from CES 2014

    —  Learn about TI’s ADAS offerings and the TDA2xin this product bulletin.

    —  Read the ADAS, TDA2x and VisionAccelerationPac white papers.

    —  Take a board tour and watch the videos aboutthe TDA2x SoC.

    —  Keep up with the latest automotive happeningson Behind the Wheel blog.

    —  Join the TI E2E(TM) Community.

    —  Follow TI on Twitter and like TI on Facebook.

Texas Instruments drives automotive innovation TI’sstate-of-the-art semiconductor products allow manufacturers and systemsuppliers to deliver world-class features to the automotive market. Ourextensive automotive portfolio includes analog power management, interface andsignal chain solutions, along with DLP® displays, ADAS and infotainmentprocessors, Hercules(TM) TMS570 safety microcontrollers and wirelessconnectivity solutions. TI offers SafeTI(TM) parts designed to facilitate OEMs’compliance with the requirements of ISO 26262, as well as parts specificallydesignated as compliant with the AEC-Q100 and TS16949 standards, all withexcellent product documentation. Visit TI’s Automotive page or TI’s E2E(TM)Behind the Wheel Blog to learn more about our commitment to automotiveinnovation.

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is a globalsemiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog ICs andembedded processors. By employing the world’s brightest minds, TI createsinnovations that shape the future of technology. TI is helping more than100,000 customers transform the future, today. Learn more at www.ti.com.