Andes Technology Is the First RISC-V Vendor to Accomplish ISO 26262 Functional Safety ASIL D Development Process Certification with SGS-TÜV Saar

The development and certification of embedded automotive safety systems will be facilitated by Andes functional safety certified processors

HSINCHU, TAIWAN – February 15, 2022 – Andes Technology, a leading supplier of high efficiency, low-power 32/64-bit RISC-V processor cores and Founding Premier member of RISC-V International, today announced it has been certified to be compliant to the requirements of ISO 26262 standards for the development of automotive functional safety processor cores. SGS-TÜV Saar GmbH, as a functional safety certification body, had independently assessed and declared that Andes Technology’s systematic capability is up to the highest certification level of Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) D on the standards including all applicable parts 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 of ISO 26262. According to the official records, Andes is the first RISC-V processor IP vendor to get process certifications for both Hardware (ISO 26262-5) and Software (ISO 26262-6) in December 2020.

ISO 26262 is a series of standards to mitigate the risks of possible safety hazards. As today’s automobile electrical and electronic (E/E) systems are getting evermore complex, developers in the automobile supply chain are obligated to provide evidence to customers down the stream that their products are being addressed on all aspects in related to safety. Since ISO 26262 provides a common ground for E/E companies worldwide to meet that goal, by certifying ISO 26262 compliant, Andes demonstrates to the industry that it is committed to support automobile professionals in developing safety-related product lines.

“Andes Technology is among the best-in-class companies that SGS-TÜV Saar ever certified for ISO 26262,” said Jack Kuo, Director of Connectivity and Products Division at SGS Taiwan. “The basis of functional safety is built upon the fundamental activities such as specification, design, implementation, integration, verification and validation. Even before ISO 26262 certification, Andes already has a solid quality system for these development processes. On top of that, their experienced safety professionals had put in great efforts to adopt the ISO 26262, which is a key element of the scientific and technological state of the art in vehicle industry. These are the keys why we are able to conclude our independent assessments and certifications smoothly right within the planned schedule, which is quite an extraordinary experience for both of us.”

“Andes Technology has seventeen-year focus on developing a series of robust AndesCore™ processors running in billions of chips. We have hundreds of licensees, whose applications range from industrial MCU to enterprise storage, 5G stations and datacenter infrastructure.” said Dr. Charlie Su, President and CTO of Andes Technology. “As electronic components in road vehicles grow fast in number and complexity, their safety, availability and robustness are crucial to welfare of human being and green environment. The trend is a great opportunity and responsibility for us, and we take it very seriously. Instead of selectively picking partial standard clauses and self-claiming readiness, Andes chooses to work together with the industry leader SGS-TÜV Saar to ensure our development process is comprehensively compliant to all the applicable ISO 26262 functional safety standards. This shows our commitment to comply with the stringent and challenging requirements in automobile electrical and electronic supply chain.”

“SGS-TÜV Saar is accredited by the established German accreditation body DAkkS for the certification services it provides. We conducted numerous thorough reviews and found Andes Technology has internalized and followed the requirements for systematic functional safety developments. The governing processes provide adequate checks and balance; it is evident to us they are compliant to ISO 26262 series of standards and meets the criteria for ASIL D.” said Wolfgang Ruf, Functional Safety Product Manager Semiconductors of SGS-TÜV Saar GmbH. “We congratulate Andes Technology and welcome Andes to introduce its RISC-V CPU IP series to the automobile industry after completing its assessment and certification.”

Andes Technology’s first functional safety IP is under development and has been licensed by several customers in the early access program to develop automobile grade system-on-chip (SoCs) for various in-vehicle applications. This functional safety enabled solution is expected to be available for general licensing by the end of first quarter this year.

About SGS

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. We are recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 93,000 employees, we operate a network of more than 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world. For more information, please visit https://www.sgs.com.tw/en/

About Andes Technology

Seventeen years in business and a Founding Premier member of RISC-V International, Andes (TWSE: 6533; SIN: US03420C2089; ISIN: US03420C1099), is a leading supplier of high-performance/low-power 32/64-bit embedded processor IP solutions, and the driving force in taking RISC-V mainstream. Andes’ fifth-generation AndeStar™ architecture adopted the RISC-V as the base. Its V5 RISC-V CPU families range from tiny 32-bit cores to advanced 64-bit cores with DSP, FPU, Vector, Linux, superscalar, and/or multicore capabilities. The annual volume of Andes-Embedded SoCs has exceeded 3 billion since 2021 and continues to rise. The cumulative volume of Andes-Embedded™ SoCs has reached 10 billion by the end of 2021. For more information, please visit https://www.andestech.com.