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Software development is a critical challenge in today's vehicle development. To address this, NXP Semiconductors today announced the addition of the "S32K3" MCU family to its "S32K" automotive MCU portfolio, simplifying software development.

The S32K reduces the complexity of vehicle software development by enabling software reuse across multiple applications. It also accelerates development with free automotive-grade drivers and streamlines security features and over-the-air (OTA) updates, facilitating safety compliance.

The S32K3 security solution, which includes a hardware security engine designed to anticipate the ISO/SAE 21434 standard currently in development and future OEM requirements, provides its own firmware and cryptographic drivers. The firmware protects the integrity of the security subsystem by blocking malicious access and is field-upgradable to address evolving cybersecurity threats.

Customers can leverage the S32K3's systematic approach to functional safety, including safety framework software, a core self-test library, hardware features such as a lockstep core, and clock/power/temperature monitors that facilitate compliance with ISO 26262 requirements. When combined with the concurrently announced FS26 safety power management IC, this solution can accelerate safety application development schedules.

The unique Real-Time Driver (RTD) package combines low-level drivers for AUTOSAR and proprietary software architectures. Tier 1 suppliers and automotive manufacturers who do not need to maintain separate architectures can reuse the platform. The RTD package is production-grade and compliant with the ISO 26262 standard, reducing the time required for customer code verification.

The S32K3 supports secure over-the-air software updates. Its smart memory design allows updates to be downloaded during normal runtime, and its automatic address translation feature eliminates the need for software reconfiguration. This allows for immediate transition to new software versions after a reset, while existing software is preserved with a rollback option.

The S32K3 family, featuring up to three Arm® Cortex® M7 cores and flash scalability from 512KB to 8MB, is available in a MaxQFP package, reducing the footprint by up to 55% compared to standard QFP. Engineering samples, evaluation kits, and software packages for the first S32K3 family member are currently available for alpha customers. Mainstream production is scheduled for Q4 2021.