Platform for Next-Generation Digital Automotive Instrument Clusters

The combination of Renesas RH850/D1x microcontroller and Luxoft’s Populus™ Suite human-machine interface (HMI) design tool chain enable car original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier-1 suppliers to create advanced instrument clusters with low memory usage.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Luxoft Holding, Inc (NYSE:LXFT), a leading provider of software development services and innovative IT solutions to a global client base, today announced its collaboration with Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, on a platform for the digital automotive instrument clusters. Luxoft’s Populus™ Suite HMI design tool chain has been ported to the Renesas RH850/D1x microcontrollers. This combination enables quicker and more cost-efficient development of robust and attractive car HMIs with a low memory footprint.

The Renesas RH850/D1x microcontrollers are part of the popular RH850/D1x series of microcontroller units (MCUs) designed specifically for various instrument cluster segments, from simple gauge clusters to large thin-film transistor (TFT) displays. The feature-rich RH850/D1x series allows for the development of robust HMIs at an affordable cost. Luxoft’s Populus™ Suite maximizes the inherent advantage of RH850/D1x microcontrollers by providing easy and efficient HMI design and development tool.

“Luxoft’s Populus™ Suite reduces both the time and cost of producing full-featured HMI’s and takes full advantage of RH850/D1x microcontroller’s embedded flash and RAM,” said Masayasu Yoshida, Department Manager of Automotive Information Strategy Department, Automotive Information System Business Division at Renesas Electronics Corporation. “This winning combination will empower OEMs to roll out more of the graphics-rich and cost-efficient digital instrument clusters for a wider range of vehicles, covering the entire line-ups – from entry-level to premium.”

“Renesas is the industry leader and has become the semiconductor vendor of choice for the OEMs worldwide,” said Vasiliy Suvorov, VP Technology Strategy of Luxoft. “We believe that by bundling our leading HMI design tool with Renesas’ popular RH850/D1x microcontrollers, we will be able to offer significant value to the OEMs and their suppliers. Populus™ has already been used to produce the cluster HMIs in more than seven million cars. With this partnership, we are looking to expand that reach even further.”

Mikhail Bykov, Managing Director of Luxoft Automotive added: “Luxoft’s professional support and development services add further value to our clients by offering more flexibility and faster time to market for their Renesas-based products.”

The Renesas’ RH850/D1x microcontroller has dedicated features for instrument clusters with middle or high level 2D drawing. It integrates a 2D graphics processor unit (GPU), Sprite engine, JPEG unit, head-up display (HUD) warping engine and the random-access memory (RAM) wrapper. Additionally, it supports an external memory interface up to DDR2.

Luxoft’s Populus™ is specially designed for operation using a low memory footprint. By addressing the specific features of the MCU, a highly optimized Populus™ runtime engine enables the combination of high performance of the developed HMI with the very low memory consumption, both for the part of the engine stored in the flash memory as well as the RAM memory needed during the runtime. Luxoft’s Populus™ Suite enables the rapid HMI development for in-vehicle infotainment systems, including digital instrument clusters, head-up displays and entry level to mid-tier head units.

Luxoft’s Populus™ Suite for Renesas RH850/D1x MCUs is currently available for testing and deployment. For more information, please visit http://populus.luxoft.com and view this demonstration video. For pricing and licensing information please contact populus@luxoft.com.

About Luxoft

Luxoft Holding, Inc (NYSE:LXFT) is a leading provider of software development services and innovative IT solutions to a global client base consisting primarily of large multinational corporations. Luxoft’s software development services consist of core and mission critical custom software development and support, product engineering and testing, and technology consulting. Luxoft’s solutions are based on its proprietary products and platforms that directly impact its clients’ business outcomes and efficiently deliver continuous innovation. The Company develops its solutions and delivers its services from 24 dedicated delivery centers worldwide. It has over 10,000 employees across 27 offices in 15 countries in North America, Mexico, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, and South Africa. Luxoft is incorporated in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, has its operating headquarters office in Zug, Switzerland and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit: http://www.luxoft.com.