Red Hat Forges Open Source Collaboration with Renesas Around Software-Defined Vehicles

Red Hat, Inc., the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a joint effort with Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, to build an open and flexible compute platform to help shape the future of software-defined vehicles (SDVs). Through this collaboration, Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System will be integrated with Renesas R-Car Software Development Kit (SKD) that is tightly coupled with the upstream Linux kernel, delivering significant flexibility and faster deployment of new features.

Embracing open source principles and contributing upstream to the community helps bolster industry-wide collaboration and fosters a culture of transparency and accessibility, a necessity for driving future advancements in automotive technology. Renesas’ R-Car open source software strategy for automotive System-on-Chips (SoCs) is proof of the company’s dedication to an open platform approach. Now, by enabling Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System in current and future generations of R-Car solutions, Renesas is able to empower customers with end-to-end open car compute solutions for SDVs and more including: 

• Greater adaptability without compromising on functional safety and security requirements;
• Accelerated development cycles for new feature deployment and hardware upgrades to better keep pace with rapid technological advancements;
• A software-first approach and a unified, cloud-native environment including a virtual simulator to give customers the ability to develop software and hardware in parallel through digital twins;
• An optimized developer environment to fuel more rapid innovation;
• Reduced lifecycle risk and costs with long-term maintainability and a robust security footprint powered by open source standards and enterprise support.

By utilizing upstream Linux drivers, supported by Red Hat’s renowned enterprise support, carmakers are presented with a robust and scalable foundation with a stronger software security posture for their SDVs. This approach helps safeguard software investments while paving the way for ongoing innovation.

Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System limits complexity

Red Hat has been working across the automotive industry with organizations including ETAS, General Motors, Deloitte and more to help accelerate open source technology adoption with a focus on standardization and reusability. Many traditional systems and methodologies have come with high development costs, slow time-to-market and difficulty in addressing dynamic customer demands while still meeting critical safety standards. To help address these challenges, Red Hat is working to deliver Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System as a functionally-safe, automotive-specific Linux operating system foundation.

Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System is revolutionizing how manufacturers manage vehicle safety requirements alongside software innovation. Previously, safety-critical and non-safety-critical workloads needed separate virtual machines and operating systems that also required a hypervisor. Now, these workloads can be efficiently containerized with Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System with minimal complexity and resource usage. Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System is well suited for many vehicle domain functions including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), infotainment (IVI), digital cockpit, body control, telemetry and others, and also supports virtualization to help provide a unified solution for diverse automotive workloads

Availability

Customers will be able to gain early access to refined versions of this new flexible compute platform, including a Renesas reference platform for rapid prototyping, in the second half of 2024.

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Supporting Quotes

Francis Chow, vice president and general manager, In-Vehicle Operating System and Edge, Red Hat

“This collaboration with Renesas Electronics is a pivotal moment for the automotive industry as our work together further drives home the importance of an open model with upstream collaboration. Together, we're setting a new standard forged on open code, empowering carmakers with unprecedented flexibility and accelerating the pace of technological advancement for SDVs.”

Aish Dubey, vice president and general manager, High Performance Computing SoC, Renesas

“Renesas has been an active contributor to kernel development and is among the leading companies that support open source software. Through the common product offering of our scalable R-Car platform with Red Hat In-Vehicle Operating System, automotive OEMs will be able to address the challenges surrounding SDV architecture for new mobility applications. The combined solution provides flexibility, without compromising on automotive safety and security requirements for vehicle electronic control units.”