C/C++ toolchain steers ADAS safety wheels

Article By : ARM

Compiler 6 delivers ADAS safety, runtime, compute power tools and warrants minimal memory footprint and energy efficiency for medical devices.

To address functional safety requirements of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving, ARM has launched its Compiler 6 for its C/C++ compilation toolchain.

It consists of the safety-certified ARM Compiler toolchain, compiler qualification kit and long-term support and maintenance service for an increasingly diverse range of safety-related applications across the ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R and Cortex-M processor series. The ARM Compiler 6 safety package simplifies safety certification while also giving developers at automakers and autonomous system OEMs the C and C++ code-generation tool for their ARM-based hardware platforms. Moreover, further improvements to code size optimisation and the tiny C Microlib library enable the toolchain to be used in even the most tightly memory-constrained embedded applications.

 
[ARM Compiler 6 (cr)]
Figure 1: By combining microarchitecture-specific instruction scheduling, whole-programme optimisation strategies and finely tuned libraries, ARM Compiler 6 significantly accelerates execution time across a wide variety of workloads.
 

Engineered efficiency, functionality

While ADAS and autonomous driving push the envelope of runtime performance and compute power requirements, systems such as medical devices require minimal memory footprint and high energy efficiency. ARM Compiler 6 delivers on both. On particular synthetic automotive and industrial workloads, for instance, code built with ARM Compiler 6 runs as much as 30% faster than when built with its previous generation.

ARM Compiler 6 meets the highest level of tool qualification requirements for ISO 26262 (automotive), IEC 61508 (industrial), EN 50128 (railway) and IEC 62304 (medical). Crucially, this means it can be used at any safety integrity level without further qualification efforts in such applications when the qualification kit’s recommendations are followed. The kit, containing a comprehensive set of instructions, safety manual and reports, can also be used as evidence for justifying toolchain selection irrespective of the safety standard targeted.

The certified compiler branch will receive stability patches and bug fixes over an extended maintenance period, according to ARM.

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