Wireless development module is tough for automotive trials

Author: EIS Release Date: Oct 26, 2022

Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Ultra-Wideband, broadcast radio, 802.11p V2X, 4G LTE (or 5G) and GPS have been wrapped in an automotive-grade shell by NXP, which has called the resulting development module ‘OrangeBox’.

 

NXP orangebox dev module

“OrangeBox is a single, security enhanced, modular development platform that provides a unified interface between the vehicle’s gateway and its wired and wireless technologies,” according to the company. “By doing so, it provides a means for next-generation cars to securely communicate with the world around them.”

 

NXP OrangeBox SystemIt argues that distributing links for functions as diverse as infotainment and safety throughout a vehicle’s architecture expands its cyber-attack surface as well as creating complexity. And contrasts: “OrangeBox unifies these current and emerging external wireless interfaces into a single, domain controller, which then connects to the secure vehicle gateway through high-speed Ethernet. It optimises the movement of data across multiple communication interfaces, enables consistent security protection to be applied to all traffic entering the car, and eases the deployment of V2X and cloud applications such as over-the-air updates for software-defined vehicles.”

 

The central processor is an i.MX 8XLite (2x Cortex-A35 , Cortex-M4F) running Linux, and this has a S32K (Cortex-M4F) safety co-processor. Mmory is 2Gbyte LPDDR4, 32Gbyte eMMC and 64Mbyte serial NOR flash.

 

The automotive wireless development module is expected to be available to customers in the first half of next year, and will be demonstrated at CES 2023.