DETROIT, Convergence 2004 Automotive Electronics Conference, October 18, 2004 - QNX Software Systems, the global leader in operating system technology for the in-car telematics and infotainment market, today announced that the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS will support the new, high-performance SH-4A microprocessor core from Renesas Technology.Boasting a maximum clock speed of 400MHz and an impressive 720 MIPs, the Renesas SH-4A runs significantly faster than CPUs traditionally used in telematics systems, enabling low-cost delivery of high-end mapping and multimedia applications. Moreover, it is upwards compatible with SH-4 cores, allowing automotive suppliers to achieve substantial performance gains while preserving their existing QNX Neutrino code base.
With its fault-tolerant architecture, true realtime performance, and proven SH-4 support, the QNX Neutrino RTOS offers a robust software foundation for the SH-4A product family. QNX Neutrino's unrivalled ability to host complex infotainment applications, coupled with the compute power and rich peripheral set of these new processors, promises to drive in-car computing to new levels of sophistication and responsiveness.
Custom board support
To support the new SH-4A architecture, QNX Software Systems is developing a board support package (BSP) for the Renesas EDOSK-7780, an automotive reference design for the SH7780 processor. In addition, QNX plans to support the highly integrated Renesas SH7770, an SH-4A processor that reduces the cost of graphics-rich navigation systems by providing on-chip support for both GPS and 2D/3D acceleration.
"As a long-standing telematics partner of Renesas, QNX is committed to delivering optimized, off-the-shelf support for automotive platforms based on both SH-4 and SH-4A cores," said Andrew Poliak, automotive business manager for QNX Software Systems. "By expanding our portfolio of supported Renesas hardware, we are enabling telematics designers to achieve an unprecedented range of price-performance points - from the Renesas 7760 system-on-a-chip to high-end, yet cost-effective processors that support 3D infotainment and navigation."
"We worked closely with QNX when designing the Renesas SH-4A processor series to ensure it provided the optimal feature set and capabilities for our mutual automotive customers," said Anand Ramamoorthy, director of car infotainment and telematics, automotive business unit, Renesas Technology America Inc. "Together, the QNX Neutrino RTOS and SH-4A processor series offer infotainment and navigation developers a clear migration path to higher performance and integration, while answering the demand for systems of greater flexibility and sophistication."
QNX and In-car Telematics
Besides offering the ultra-reliable QNX Neutrino RTOS, QNX has brought an array of innovative technologies to the in-car computing market. These include a highly customizable framework for managing the power consumption of in-car electronics, multi-layered 3D graphics for navigation systems, instant-on technology for ultra-fast bootup times, and a full-featured embeddable windowing system, the QNX Photon® microGUI®, for graphics-rich infotainment and navigation applications. In addition, QNX offers the QNX Momentics® development suite, a highly integrated toolset for accelerating the entire telematics development cycle - from board bring-up to performance optimization.
About QNX Software Systems
With millions of installations worldwide, QNX Software Systems is the global leader in realtime, microkernel operating system technology. Companies like Cisco, DaimlerChrysler, Harris, Siemens, and General Electric rely on QNX technology to build ultra-reliable systems for the networking, automotive, medical, military, and industrial automation markets. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Visit http://www.qnx.com.
Editorial Contacts
Paul Leroux
QNX Software Systems
+1 613 591-0931
paull@qnx.com