[Editor's Note] As the complexity of automotive architectures increases, MCUs must provide much higher functionality than before. In response to this trend, STMicroelectronics introduces solutions for next-generation vehicle architectures that handle Zone Controllers, Domain Controllers, and more. On May 25, ST Manager Sungbae Son will host a webinar at e4ds on the topic of “ST Next-Generation Automotive 32-Bit MCU Stellar.” Ahead of the webinar, we listened to Manager Son Seong-bae's story.

▲ ST Manager Son Seong-bae

■ Introduction to Stellar and why it is receiving attention

Due to the complexity of new automotive architectures, automotive MCUs must provide higher functionality than before.

ST Stellar provides a safe and reliable solution for next-generation vehicle architectures that handles zone controllers for body and convenience application integration, as well as domain controllers for powertrain and electrification integration.

■ What are the major application applications?

We can say that the Stellar P and G product families, which will be introduced via the webinar on May 25, are suitable for integrated platforms such as Domain / Zone.

The P product group is expected to be applicable to Battery Management Systems (BMS) or transmissions, while the G product group is expected to be applicable to Gateways or Body integration.

■ What are the key requirements of the market/industry?
The complexity of automotive architecture is increasing, and along with this trend, many changes are underway.

Accordingly, there is a demand for MCUs that meet high performance, virtualization, enhanced security and safety features, and OTA capabilities.

■ What are the main benefits?

There are four main advantages of the Stellar MCU.

The first is that it supports high performance to support various architectures that will evolve in the future. It uses 6 Cortex-R52 cores to provide 7 to 16K DMIPS, and also offers fast real-time, safety, and security.

The second is that it provides a secure integrated controller environment through hardware virtualization, and the third is that it can provide an efficient routing accelerator by using an independent subsystem core, the Cortex-M4.

Finally, by utilizing the characteristics of Stellar's PCM, which is designed to represent one bit using two cells, double the memory space can be used during OTA.

■ What differentiates it from competitor products?

The Stellar SR6 MCU is equipped with six Cortex-R52 cores operating at up to 400 MHz and three Cortex-M4 cores operating at 200 MHz, providing a performance of up to 7,000 to 16,000 DMIPS.

In addition, in terms of security, it supports an improved HSM 2nd gen and a total of four crypto modules operating at 400 MHz.

Stellar's memory utilizes ST's unique Phase Change Memory (PCM) and Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) to maximize cost efficiency in OTA implementations. PCM supports faster access time and programming speed than conventional NOR flash, and unlike the limitation of NOR flash, which requires erasing the entire sector during erasure, it enables single-bit overwrite, making the overall flash programming time about 4.5 times faster.

This offers a significant advantage for firmware updates in MCU flash programming, which is becoming increasingly larger in line with automotive architecture trends.

In addition, virtualization capabilities via a physical hypervisor are supported for ECU integration and domain controllers.

This virtualization feature allows multiple applications to coexist on a physical MCU, thereby improving design flexibility. Additionally, the provision of virtual machines using Stellar's hardware Hypervisor offers significantly less overhead and real-time capabilities compared to a Hypervisor implemented purely in software.

■ Please share a few words with the readers of e4ds regarding the content introduced today.

Stellar MCUs provide high performance and various features for new automotive architectures, and the Stellar Development Kit is also available to enhance customer development convenience.

We ask for your continued interest in Stellar MCU. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.