Renesas Introduces R-Car S4 Starter Kit That Enables Rapid Software Development for Automotive Gateway Systems

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced
semiconductor solutions, announced a new development board for automotive
gateway systems. The R-Car S4 Starter Kit is a low-cost, readily available
development board for building software using the Renesas R-Car S4 system on
chip (SoC). The SoC delivers high computing performance and an array of
communication features for both cloud communication and safe vehicle
control. The new starter kit is a less-expensive and readily available
option compared to the existing R-Car S4 Reference Board, which provides a
full-scale development environment including an evaluation board and
software. Engineers can take advantage of the new kit to easily start their
initial evaluation of car servers, connected gateways, connectivity modules
and more, for rapid application development.

“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. This
low-cost board addresses the need, and we are confident that it will
accelerate their vehicle development.”

The R-Car S4 Starter Kit includes essential R-Car S4 interfaces such as
Ethernet TSN switch and CAN FD, as well as memory such as 4GB(Gigabyte) of
LPDDR4, 128GB of UFS (Universal Flash Storage), and 64MB(Megabyte) of Quad
SPI flash memory. In addition, users can easily expand peripheral functions
by using expansion connectors and customize the hardware according to
individual needs.

Furthermore, Renesas provides the R-Car S4 Whitebox SDK, an open-source
automotive development environment for the R-Car S4, which can be combined
with the R-Car S4 Starter Kit. The SDK consists of FoC (Free of Charge)
software and can be easily used without the need for complicated license
agreements. The SDK includes sample software, test programs, and resource
monitoring tools for OTA (Over-The-Air software updates), IPS (Intrusion
Prevention System), and IDS (Intrusion Detection System) for network
security, allowing for various prototyping and evaluation. Users can use the
sample software as a base to develop their own applications. This kit
shortens development time and reduces energy consumption, thus imposing less
impact on the environment.

Availability

The R-Car S4 Starter Kit is available from major distributors or via a
Renesas local sales representative. For more information, please visit:
https://www.renesas.com/R-Car-S4-StarterKit.

The R-Car S4 Whitebox SDK will be available by the end of August. Additional
information on the R-Car S4 Whitebox SDK is available at:
https://www.renesas.com/whitebox-sdk.

About Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723) empowers a safer, smarter and
more sustainable future where technology helps make our lives easier. A
leading global provider of microcontrollers, Renesas combines our expertise
in embedded processing, analog, power and connectivity to deliver complete
semiconductor solutions. These Winning Combinations accelerate time to
market for automotive, industrial, infrastructure and IoT applications,
enabling billions of connected, intelligent devices that enhance the way
people work and live. Learn more at renesas.com. Follow us on LinkedIn,
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