DENSO to Launch Joint Research on Multithreaded CPU Cores with Imagination Technologies Collaboration will enhance development of processors for future in-vehicle electronic systems

KARIYA (Japan) ― DENSO Corporation today announced that it and Imagination Technologies (LSE: IMG) (hereinafter “Imagination”), headquartered in Hertfordshire, UK, are undertaking joint research on hardware multithreading that enables a processor (CPU) to execute multiple processes concurrently. The companies agree that this technology can provide an advantage for next-generation in-vehicle electronic systems.

With recent developments in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving technologies, various in-vehicle components and functions have been computerized to ensure integrated control, and many computers (electronic control units or ECUs) have been built into vehicles. In general, LSIs (large-scale integrated circuits, which are a type of semiconductor device) incorporate two or more CPUs, and so the required performance of CPUs has become increasingly complex.

Imagination develops and licenses intellectual property for semiconductor system-on-a-chip*1 devices (SoC IP cores), and has world-class multithreading technologies that are integrated into its MIPS CPUs. DENSO has decided to launch a joint research programme with Imagination in order to implement multithreading more efficiently for interconnections between ECUs in particular.

DENSO has been developing technologies and products to help create a society free from traffic accidents. Based on these technologies, DENSO will continue to contribute to building a safe and secure automotive society for all people around the world, not just for drivers and pedestrians.

*1: A design technique for integrated circuits to integrate necessary functions on semiconductor chips