New Customizable 3D Surround View Software Optimized for Low Power R-Car V3M Speeds Up ECU System Design

SAN JOSE, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 13, 2017 — Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, and Cogent Embedded Inc., a leading embedded software provider to the automotive industry, today announced their joint development of a 3D surround view solution to assist drivers during parking or low-speed maneuvers. Designed for parking assist systems in entry- and mid-level cars, the new solution combines the Renesas R-Car V3M system-on-chip (SoC), an SoC optimized for smart camera and surround view systems, with Cogent’s customizable 3D surround view software on a reference board. By using this solution, OEMs and Tier 1s can quickly customize and create their individual 3D surround view parking assist systems. On-demand customization services can also be provided by Cogent Embedded to enable system developers to concentrate on developing application software to differentiate their systems.

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Renesas Electronics and Cogent Embedded 3D Surround View Parking Assist System (Photo: Business Wire)

The new 3D surround view solution will be demonstrated at AutoSens 2017 (booth #9), which will be held from September 19 to 20, 2017 in Brussels, Belgium.

“As in-vehicle infotainment and ADAS systems converge, automotive system designers require technologies that deliver predictable performance for safety while securing the flexibility to customize,” said Shinichi Yoshioka, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Manager of Automotive Solution Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Corporation. “Renesas is expanding its relationship with software expert Cogent Embedded to deliver new solutions that address both of these growing markets with our R-Car V3M SoC that delivers 3D function and performance comparable to other surround view SoCs, at lower power and cost levels.”

“We are excited about the opportunity our cooperation with Renesas provides. The R-Car V3M SoC provides the right set of functions for entry-to-mid-level surround view to run efficiently our state-of-the-art 3D surround view with pedestrian detection, cross-traffic-alert and lane tracking algorithms, an ideal combination of surround view and computer vision features,” said Artemi Ivanov, President of Cogent Embedded Inc. “Combining the power and cost effectiveness of Renesas hardware with our royalty-free software allows carmakers to offer surround view in lower priced vehicles. We believe that with the new collaboration, Renesas and Cogent can contribute to making surround view a standard on all new vehicles, and we are proud to be part of that solution.”

It is necessary for next-generation 3D surround view systems to achieve not only display functionality but also object recognition. Surround view is a vehicle camera system that provides an all-round panorama view and assists the driver when parking. A control display on the vehicle’s interior control panels shows data from surround view cameras and offers the driver a realistic 360-degree surround view to assist in maneuvering the vehicle to park and to alert the driver to obstacles in its path that may not be immediately visible.

The R-Car V3M is equipped with an integrated image signal processor (ISP), the IMR for low-power image rendering and the IMP-X5 computer vision engine. It delivers robust functional safety and high performance at lowpower consumption required for use in smart camera applications, surround view systems, and lidars, including NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) features.

The R-Car V3M is part of the Renesas autonomy™ Platform, an open, innovative and trusted platform for ADAS and automated driving. With this open platform, Renesas is the only automotive semiconductor supplier in the industry to cover end-to-end solutions from secure cloud connectivity and sensing to vehicle control.

Key features of the 3D surround view solution

• Highly-customizable 3D surround view software
  The new 3D surround view solution includes Cogent’s highly acclaimed 3D surround view software which is presently used by several industry players. The software is optimized for the R-Car V3M and enables a highly customizable and expandable white label solution for OEMs and Tier 1s.

• The R-Car V3M enables full-HD 3D surround view system with high quality resolutions and lower power consumption
  The R-Car V3M includes a dedicated image rendering unit (IMR) that enables realistic 360-degree surround view and free view-points at lower power consumption than GPU-based SoCs. The R-Car V3M supports up to four 1.3 Megapixel cameras. These cameras can make use of the integrated ISP in the R-Car V3M, which eliminates the need to install an ISP per camera, thereby reduces bill-of-material (BOM) costs. The optimized video pipeline can generate up to Full HD resolution output to the infotainment units. The integrated IMP-X5 computer vision engine enables object recognition such as lane detection, pedestrian or obstacle detection. This enables OEMs and Tier 1s to design full-HD surround view systems with high-quality resolutions and lower power consumption.