Denso to launch joint research on multithreaded CPU cores with Imagination Technologies

Collaboration will enhance development of processors for future in-vehicle electronic systems

November 14, 2016 -- 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

About DENSO Corporation

DENSO Corp., headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world’s major carmakers. Worldwide, the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 38 countries and regions (including Japan) and employs more than 150,000 people. Consolidated global sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016, totaled US$40.2 billion. Last fiscal year, DENSO spent 8.8 percent of its global consolidated sales on research and development. DENSO common stock is traded on the Tokyo and Nagoya stock exchanges.