Xilinx Korea (Branch Manager Ahn Heung-sik) August 1, 2013 – Xilinx announced that the Zynq®-7000 All Programmable Device from Xilinx is being utilized in the latest engine ECU (Engine Control Unit) processing core called HEL (High Efficiency Logic) at Bosch Engineering Group and Bosch Motorsport, located in Affalterbach, Germany. The HEL-based ECU is deployed in LMP1 race cars from a German OEM participating in the FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship). The performance and robustness of the Bosch ECU based on Zynq SoC have brought multiple championship wins to this racing team. From the "6 Hours of Silverstone" race in April, the "6 Hours of Spa" race in May, to the "24 Hours of Le Mans," the premium event of WEC, the team has secured first place in all races of the current season to date.

The HEL-based ECU developed by Bosch is responsible for all diesel engine management, including multi-point injection and pressure control. In addition to collecting engine data, the ECU also provides functions such as pit row speed limiter and traction control.

Xilinx's Zynq-7020 All Programmable SoC (System-on-a-Chip) includes a dual-core ARM® Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ processing system, serving as the brain of the ECU. While most control algorithms execute sequentially on the ARM cores, the programmable logic portion of the Zynq device is used for parallel acquisition of engine data and is also utilized for interfacing with other subsystems through PWM, RS-232, LIN, CAN or Ethernet, real-time critical signal processing, and IO control.

Markus Kirchner, hardware development group leader at Bosch Motorsports, stated, "Through the versatile architecture of the Zynq device, we can respond quickly to change requests," and added, "Reusing specific IP blocks has also dramatically shortened development time." Although Bosch had previously used FPGAs on earlier platforms, the combination with discrete microcontrollers could not meet the performance requirements of the new system. This new Zynq-based ECU consumes low power and delivers more than double the performance in a smaller footprint.

Bosch Motorsports plans to further leverage the flexibility and scalability of Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC technology. This Zynq-based board is slated to be used as a processing platform for other applications, including gasoline engine control for other racing series vehicles, data loggers, and in-vehicle graphics display controllers.

Jack Dunnigan, senior director of segment marketing business development at Xilinx, stated, "We are pleased to have the opportunity to demonstrate the high-performance, low-power capabilities of Zynq devices in such a competitive environment. This not only showcases the performance achievable by Zynq-based systems but also demonstrates the quality and reliability of the Zynq device in the extreme endurance demands of racing environments. By powerfully integrating the processor and FPGA fabric, we have enabled customers like Bosch to build smarter and more flexible systems that go beyond software-only processing and significantly accelerate the speed of critical tasks."