The new Subaru Levorg features the latest generation EyeSight system that provides advanced features including adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and pre-collision braking, putting best-in-class safety technology into the hands of consumers.
The Xilinx Automotive Grade (XA) Zynq®UltraScale+™ multi-processor system-on-chip (MPSoC) powers Subaru’s new stereo vision-based advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS). Zynq®UltraScale+ is 16nm features enough power to process
Xilinx 16 nanometer technology provides the power to process stereo images into 3D point clouds with ultra-low latency. It brings a functional safety that is required to ensure Eyesight can accurately understand and react to dynamic driving scenarios.
Stereo cameras and MPSoC
Stereo cameras are essential since they add depth to the image and makes the car "understand“ surroundings and the depth of the image better. Using stereo cameras is a similar approach to human eyes, where looking with two eyes adds depth perception to an image, all processed by the brain.
In the example above, the Xilinx Automotive Grade (XA) Zynq®UltraScale+™ is the brain that makes sense of the data.
Subaru EyeSight is expanding Level 2 automotive features. The previous generation was able to avoid hitting pedestrians while turning, left turn collision, head-on crash as well as avoidance by steering. These are rather complex actions, but the latest generation EyeSight adds driver distraction, loss of consciousness, and unintentional acceleration and runway. The unintentional acceleration frequently happens at 70 or especially 80+ population, and most recently yesterday, a 73 year old lady in Villach Austria unintentionally drove into the pharmacy mistaking the brake for the gas pedal. Subaru EyeSight powered by Xilinx would have prevented this incident. 
Upgradable secure MPSoC
Xilinx or Subaru didn’t comment on the megapixel in the camera. Still, industry players usually use one to two-megapixel cameras for such systems, and Subaru is using one of the Zynq units that sit between ZU2 and ZU11, both companies didn’t want to share the exact model.
Zynq unit is capable of AI, processing images in the point cloud, sensor fusion including cameras, radar, and lidar data, and making sense of them. It can also take care of HMI and Vehicle control and status.
Xilinx has a unique position as it has a hardened part of the SoC with common algorithms and a programmable part of the chip that can add and update new features in the future.
The system enables rather complex actions, including the hands of driving in congested traffic or advanced braking and steering.
“At Subaru, we continuously strive to make the Subaru brand prominent in our customers’ hearts and minds by focusing our efforts on providing ‘Enjoyment and Peace of Mind,’ and we believe ADAS is one of the technologies that will help us achieve that goal”, said Tetsuo Fujinuki, chief technology officer, Subaru Corporation.
“Stereo cameras are at the heart of Subaru’s ADAS applications. Unlike common approaches, the image processing technology adopted in our new generation system scans everything captured by stereo cameras and creates high-precision 3D point clouds, enabling us to offer advanced features such as pre-collision braking at an intersection and assisting with hands-off driving in traffic congestion on a highway. Xilinx technology plays an important role in this. Because Xilinx automotive devices contain built-in capabilities that allow us to meet strict ASIL requirements, they are unquestionably the best technology to implement Subaru’s new ADAS vision system.”
“We are excited to see Xilinx automotive devices enabling the new generation of automotive safety for Subaru”, said Yousef Khalilollahi, vice president of sales, Asia-Pacific region, Xilinx. “Subaru’s name has long been synonymous with road safety and reliability, and we’re proud that our XA products have been selected to continue our shared vision of providing drivers with the most advanced safety features on the market.”
Xilinx is a big player in the automotive market, and this particular design win is part of the Veoneer OEM stereo cameras system. Xilinx’s automotive solutions offer the ultimate in hardware and software partitioning flexibility combined with a variety of networking connectivity options, unique functional safety architecture configurations, and security features for current and future autonomous drive modules.
Cumulatively, Xilinx has shipped more than 190 million devices globally for automotive use, with 75 million used for production ADAS deployments. The company works with over 200 automotive companies, comprised of major Tier 1s, OEMs, and startups globally.
