Dutch company NXP Semiconductors has unveiled a new range of microprocessors to control vehicle dynamics in next-generation electric and autonomous vehicles.

The new NXP S32S microprocessors have been designed to manage the systems that accelerate brake and steer vehicles safely, whether they are controlled by a driver or autonomously.

NXP Semiconductors vehicle dynamics and safety vice-president Ray Cornyn said: “When we started the development of the S32S it was clear that just building another incremental microcontroller was not what customers needed to handle the safety and performance requirements of next-generation and autonomous vehicles.

“Our new safety processors leverage the high-performance multi-core benefits of the S32 Arm platform while still supporting traditional microcontroller ease of use and environmental robustness.”

“The S32S architecture supports the ‘fail availability’ feature, which allows the device to continue operating after it detects and isolates a failure.”

NXP claims that its new 800MHz microprocessor / microcontroller is capable of meeting the needs of carmakers developing future autonomous and hybrid electric vehicles.

The S32S microprocessors are part of the new S32 product line. They are said to offer the ASIL D capability.

Equipped with an array of new Arm Cortex-R52 cores, they are integrated with safety features.

The S32S architecture supports the ‘fail availability’ feature, which allows the device to continue operating after it detects and isolates a failure.

NXP S32 is adopted by both premium and volume automotive brands and addresses the challenges of future car development with a host of architectural innovations.

It also offers an identical software environment that can reduce development efforts and maximise software reuse across products and applications.

NXP has partnered with OpenSynergy to develop a fully featured, real-time hypervisor supporting NXP S32S products.