Arm Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: ARM, hereinafter referred to as Arm) recently announced the launch of the Arm® Zena Compute Subsystem (CSS). As a standardized and pre-integrated computing platform, Arm Zena CSS can significantly shorten development cycles, enabling software teams to start development work before the physical hardware is launched, thus helping automakers bring new models to market at least a year earlier.
One of the major challenges facing automakers today is how to deliver innovative results to drivers more quickly. Traditional chip development cycles often lead to delays in vehicle delivery, preventing automakers from providing the AI-driven features that today’s drivers expect. Arm Zena CSS can shorten the time to market for products, expand AI capabilities across different vehicle series, and help automakers remain competitive in the rapidly evolving era of AI-defined vehicles.
Dipti Vachani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Arm’s Automotive Division, stated: “Today, almost all global automotive manufacturers (OEMs), including Tesla, Rivian, NIO, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, and Geely, are using Arm technology as a foundational computing platform to power a variety of functions, from safety-critical advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to immersive cockpit experiences. Next-generation vehicles will demand higher technological requirements, such as the need for broader and highly personalized intelligence, as well as the ability for real-time adaptation and dynamic updates.”
Accelerating AI-Defined Experiences Across Vehicle Models
In the AI era, automakers must possess scalable computing capabilities without compromising on safety, energy efficiency, and flexibility to remain competitive. Arm Zena CSS can shorten chip development cycles by up to 12 months and reduce engineering resource investment for each chip project by as much as 20%, helping automakers and chip suppliers accelerate the market introduction of innovative models. These new models will feature intelligent applications covering smart voice, touch interfaces, immersive digital cockpit experiences, driving assistance and autonomous driving, as well as real-time perception.
Arm Zena CSS: A Powerful Computing Platform for AI-Defined Vehicles
Next-generation vehicles need to run multiple workloads on a single platform, such as ADAS, in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI), and vehicle control systems with different safety and real-time response requirements. Arm Zena CSS is built on Armv9 Automotive Enhanced (AE) technology and is Arm’s first pre-integrated and pre-validated computing platform for AI-defined vehicles, meeting the demands of AI-defined vehicles through the integration of various powerful features:
16 Cortex®-A720AE cores based on the Armv9 architecture, optimized for ADAS and IVI applications
A safety island powered by Cortex-R82AE, a proprietary design of Arm Zena CSS, capable of providing real-time ASIL D processing capabilities, such as fault management, safety monitoring, system control, and SoC boot
A runtime security engine that provides a hardware root of trust (RoT) with security capabilities, achieving SoC-level security through Arm TrustZone® technology
CPU cache coherence and efficient chip-to-chip interconnect features provided by CMN S3AE
Optional image signal processing capabilities powered by Mali™-C720AE and Mali GPU, supporting ADAS application scenarios such as surround view and driver monitoring
Support for easy integration of accelerators and partner-specific logic to meet the dynamic workload requirements in advanced AI-capable SoC designs
This standardized computing platform enables automakers and chip suppliers to reuse architectures and software, accelerating global automotive delivery timelines, simplifying system development and integration processes, while optimizing functional safety and information security certification efforts. This is crucial for the automotive industry, as developing customized hardware and software stacks for each model and application is not only costly and time-consuming but also involves a heavy verification and certification process. Importantly, Arm Zena CSS helps Arm partners inject unique value into their product lines on a standardized platform, achieving innovation and differentiation.
Currently, leading global automotive manufacturers (including top electric vehicle manufacturers) and chip suppliers have either obtained technical authorization for Arm Zena CSS or are in deep discussions. It is expected that in the coming years, most companies in the industry will conduct related development work based on the Arm Zena CSS product line.
Empowering Developers to Innovate from the Start of Projects
In addition to shortening chip time-to-market, Arm partners can leverage cloud-based virtual prototyping platforms from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cadence, Siemens, and Synopsys to immediately start software development based on Arm Zena CSS, reducing the time to market for innovative software by up to two years.
Arm has a strong ecosystem of over 22 million developers, including leading companies such as Denso, GitHub, Green Hills, Mapbox, Red Hat, and Panasonic Automotive Systems. Today, developers in this ecosystem can develop and test the entire software stack on a unified computing platform. Arm Zena CSS is built on open standards such as Automotive Open System Architecture (Autosar), Connected Vehicle Systems Alliance (COVESA), eSync, and Virtio, and is supported by the Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge (SOAFEE) community, which includes over 150 industry members such as General Motors, CARIAD, Continental, and Tata Motors.
Arm Computing Platform Drives the Era of AI-Defined Vehicles
In the past five years, the number of Arm architecture-based chips shipped to the automotive market has tripled, demonstrating the automotive industry’s high trust in the Arm computing platform. Today, with Arm Zena CSS, Arm provides automakers with reliable tools to help them build software-defined and AI-defined vehicles faster, smarter, and more efficiently. Additionally, Arm has a unique “cloud-to-vehicle environment parity” development model, where developers use a unified Arm architecture for development and testing both in the cloud and at the vehicle end. This development model can efficiently collaborate with the advantages of Arm Zena CSS, allowing Arm partners’ software to run seamlessly across the entire technology range from micro sensors to Arm architecture-based clouds.
By significantly shortening chip development cycles by 12 months, effectively reducing engineering costs, and promoting the early initiation of software innovation, Arm Zena CSS provides strong support for automakers, enabling them to introduce AI-defined new experiences at least a year earlier in the current model year. All of this is made possible by Arm’s solid technological foundation, as Arm partners with the industry to move towards a smarter, more efficient, and innovative new era.