Semiconductor supplier Renesas Electronics has broadened its RCar Gen 5 platform for software-defined vehicles (SDV) with a new central vehicle processor.
The newly announced R‑Car X5H is presented as a multi‑domain automotive system‑on‑chip (SoC) built using a 3nm manufacturing process.
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It is intended to run functions spanning advanced driver assistance (ADAS), in‑vehicle infotainment (IVI) and vehicle gateway applications at the same time.
Renesas has started providing samples of the Gen 5 devices and is making available full evaluation boards along with its R‑Car Open Access (RoX) Whitebox Software Development Kit.
The company is also working with customers and technology partners to support adoption, and plans to show AI‑driven, multi‑domain use cases of the R‑Car X5H at CES 2026.
By moving to a smaller process node, Renesas says the R‑Car X5H combines higher integration and compute density with lower energy use, with power consumption claimed to be up to 35% lower than its earlier 5nm products.
The SoC is positioned as a central computing unit for several automotive domains, with the option to extend AI capacity through chiplet‑based add‑ons.
Mixed‑criticality support is intended to allow safety‑relevant and non‑safety functions to operate concurrently across domains.
In parallel, Renesas is extending its RoX platform to reflect tighter hardware–software integration in emerging vehicle E/E architectures.
RoX brings together development hardware, operating systems, software components and tools in one environment to support continuous software updates in the vehicle.
The RoX Whitebox software development kit (SDK) for the R‑Car X5H is based on Linux, Android and the XEN hypervisor.
Renesas lists additional support for operating systems and platforms including AUTOSAR, EB corbos Linux, QNX, Red Hat and SafeRTOS.
The SDK is intended to allow engineers to begin work directly on ADAS, Level 3/4 automated driving, cockpit and gateway software.
The package includes an AI and ADAS software stack for real‑time perception and sensor fusion, and supports the use of generative AI and large language models for in‑vehicle human–machine interaction.
It also integrates application software stacks from partners such as Candera, DSP Concepts, Nullmax, Smart Eye, STRADVISION and ThunderSoft, covering a range of components for building modern automotive software architectures.
Renesas High Performance Computing general manager and senior vice president Vivek Bhan said: “In collaboration with OEMs, Tier-1s and partners, we are rapidly rolling out a complete development system that powers the next generation of software-defined vehicles.
“These intelligent compute platforms deliver a smarter, safer and more connected driving experience and are built to scale with future AI mobility demands.”
