Beijing, China — [April, 29th] — At Auto China Beijing, ThunderSoft announced that has collaborated with NXP Semiconductors to develop a reference design to address next-generation vehicle central compute with NXP’s S32N5 and S32J100 portfolios. Engineered to work together with Qualcomm’s SA8797 system-on-chip, the reference design supports the industry’s transition toward centralized, software-defined vehicle architectures and is targeted to be available in the second quarter of 2026.
As automotive systems continue to evolve from distributed electronic control units toward centralized computing, the focus is shifting from individual component performance to system-level integration. In this context, enabling efficient interaction between high-performance processing, real-time control, and in-vehicle data communication has become a key challenge for next-generation architectures.
The collaboration between ThunderSoft and NXP reflects a joint effort to address this shift through a unified architecture approach, bringing together compute, networking, and system coordination into a cohesive architecture.
Within this reference design, each component contributes a distinct role across the vehicle system:
• NXP’s S32N5 central compute processor enables consolidation of multiple vehicle functions on a single, safety‑capable platform, simplifying vehicle architecture while increasing access to shared data to support cross-domain innovation and the adoption of edge AI in vehicles.
• NXP’s S32J100 Ethernet switch and network controller delivers high‑bandwidth, time‑sensitive networking to enable deterministic and efficient data communication on the central computer, while leveraging an open‑core architecture to support safe and secure communication, including use as an ASIL D–capable safety controller for reliable connectivity to the vehicle’s zone controllers.
• Qualcomm SA8797 provides high-performance compute for ADAS and in-vehicle infotainment domain workloads
Together, these elements form a system architecture designed to balance performance scalability with predictable operation across mixed-criticality environments.
Rather than focusing solely on increasing compute capability, the reference design emphasizes how different domains interact within a centralized system. This includes enabling separation between safety-critical and non-critical workloads, while maintaining efficient and controlled data exchange across the vehicle—an increasingly important requirement as architectures move toward higher levels of centralization.
Leveraging its experience in automotive operating systems and large-scale software integration, ThunderSoft is working to bring the reference design into a cohesive system environment. NXP contributes its expertise across real-time processing, networking, and functional safety, supporting the development of an architecture that can scale across different vehicle segments and future use cases.
As momentum toward software-defined vehicles continues to build, OEMs are seeking systems that not only deliver performance but also provide a clear path for architectural evolution. By aligning high-performance compute with system-level coordination and deterministic networking, the collaboration aims to provide a practical and scalable foundation for this transition.
Dongchao Xu, Vice President of ThunderSoft’s Intelligent Vehicle Business Group, stated: “The automotive industry is fully embracing central computing and software-defined architectures. Competition in high-performance computing (HPC) has shifted from isolated processing power to comprehensive capabilities in system collaboration, software definition, and security. Through our deep collaboration with NXP, ThunderSoft delivers an evolvable, and scalable central compute reference design with a unified software foundation and system-level integration, accelerating innovation, simplifying development, and enabling rapid deployment for next-generation intelligent vehicles.”
“As vehicle architectures evolve, consolidation and predictable connectivity are becoming increasingly important,” said Sebastien Clamagirand, SVP and GM PL Automotive Systems and Platforms (AS&P), NXP Semiconductors “By combining S32N5 central compute with S32J100 deterministic Ethernet networking, ThunderSoft are enabling simpler vehicle architectures with broader access to data, helping OEMs accelerate cross‑domain integration and help boost the adoption of edge AI in vehicles.”
The companies expect the reference design to become available in the second quarter of 2026 and plan to continue working with OEMs and ecosystem partners to further refine the architecture and support future production deployment.
