In the automotive industry, embedded AI is becoming increasingly important for safety-critical real-time applications. However, this also creates new requirements and standards that must be considered during the complete product lifecycle. Infineon Technologies addresses these new requirements with the AURIX TC4x microcontroller (MCU) family, which meets the AI-specific safety requirements to achieve SAFE AI compliance, as proposed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Systems IKS. The MCUs, with their ASIL-D compliant AI accelerator (PPU), provide an innovative platform for developing embedded AI-based use cases and automotive applications such as motor control, battery management systems, vehicle motion control and siren detection.
The SAFE AI framework based on ISO PAS 8800 and current state-of-the-art AI regulations is an evaluation methodology developed by Fraunhofer IKS that assesses the trustworthiness of AI in terms of robustness, data utility, operational design domain (ODD) and environmental conditions. The functional safety measures of the AURIX TC4x family thus provide mechanisms for compliance with AI regulations and standards at the application level. By using the AURIX TC4x family, car manufacturers can assess the safety and reliability of AI solutions and identify potential vulnerabilities during system development and operation. For safety-critical real-time applications, the use of AI models like neural networks increases accuracy and provides additional safety in conjunction with the existing physical sensor.
“The integration of safe and reliable AI functionality into automotive microcontroller families is essential to further improve vehicle performance, safety, and comfort,” said Thomas Boehm, Senior Vice President Microcontroller at Infineon. “We are therefore very proud that our AURIX TC4x microcontroller has successfully passed the SAFE AI assessment by the Fraunhofer Institute for Cognitive Intelligence. This underlines our position as one of the leading innovation drivers in the industry.”
