TDA5 SoCs and Synopsys VDK: Powering Safe, Scalable AI for Autonomous Driving

The automotive industry is in the midst of a software-defined vehicle (SDV) revolution, driven by the convergence of advanced electronics, AI, and connectivity that transforms cars into high-performance computing platforms. SDVs enable continuous feature updates, personalization, and over-the-air improvements for applications like ADAS, autonomous driving, and infotainment, reshaping the entire value chain. However, this shift introduces significant complexity, demanding new architectures, robust engineering tools, and strategic collaboration to meet stringent performance, power, and safety requirements.

Texas Instruments (TI) has announced the TDA5 SoC family, which delivers safe, scalable AI performance (10-1200 TOPS) with optimal power and performance efficiency, making advanced autonomous features economically viable for an automaker’s entire vehicle lineup.  Its chiplet-ready architecture allows OEMs to expand computing capabilities beyond traditional SoC limitations, future-proofing vehicles for evolving autonomous driving requirements.

TDA5 SoCs enable cross-domain fusion with integrated hardware safety architecture that enables OEMs to meet ASIL-D safety standards, creating the foundation for vehicles to advance from basic driver assistance to autonomous driving. To address the challenge of managing complex vehicle software, TI has collaborated with Synopsys to provide a Synopsys Virtualizer™ Development Kit (VDK) for TI’s TDA5 SoCs. The VDK enables electronics digital twins (eDTs), which allow engineers to “shift left” and begin software development before ECU hardware is available, accelerating time-to-market by as much as 12 months.

Synopsys collaborated with TI for the development of the TDA5 VDK, providing a comprehensive software development solution for the multi/cross-domain TDA5 SoCs. This enables software developers to debug and analyze their software efficiently, leading to faster turnaround and higher software quality. The virtual prototype provides a virtual representation of the SoC including support for application and real-time processing, multimedia, display, connectivity, analytics and security subsystems.

The VDK extends the TDA5 virtual prototype with advanced debug and analysis capabilities resulting in a more efficient, less expensive software development process. This especially holds true for hardware-dependent software, like boot loaders, operating systems and device drivers, middleware as well as parallel software for multi-core platforms. It provides full observability and control, non-intrusive debugging and analysis capabilities.  Hardware/software correlation and root cause analysis are drastically accelerated.

Synopsys collaborated with TI for the development of the TDA5 VDK, providing a comprehensive software development solution for the multi/cross-domain TDA5 SoCs. This enables software developers to debug and analyze their software efficiently, leading to faster turnaround and higher software quality. The virtual prototype provides a virtual representation of the SoC including support for application and real-time processing, multimedia, display, connectivity, analytics and security subsystems.

The VDK extends the TDA5 virtual prototype with advanced debug and analysis capabilities resulting in a more efficient, less expensive software development process. This especially holds true for hardware-dependent software, like boot loaders, operating systems and device drivers, middleware as well as parallel software for multi-core platforms. It provides full observability and control, non-intrusive debugging and analysis capabilities.  Hardware/software correlation and root cause analysis are drastically accelerated.

The integration of the VDK with the TI software development kit (SDK) forms a fundamental platform for developers embarking on the evaluation and creation of their systems and associated software. This unified approach is the result of a collaborative effort between Synopsys and TI, both of whom have worked closely to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of the solution.

The VDK for the TI TDA5 SoC family has played a vital role in enabling TI software developers to perform pre-silicon software development. Utilizing the VDK, developers were able to design and refine the TI SDK before silicon availability, facilitating early software validation and optimization.

Consequently, the result is an integrated and thoroughly validated VDK plus SDK solution that is available for current development needs. This cohesive platform supports efficient and reliable system and software development processes.

Alongside the TI SDK, Synopsys and TI have collaborated with various industry partners to integrate their tools and embedded software with the TDA5 virtual prototype. These partners include providers of debugging and simulation tools, operating systems, and middleware stacks (including perception and OTA). Ecosystems working with Synopsys and TI for integration into the VDK include Accenture, Banma Network Technologies, Excelfore, Green Hills Software, IPG Automotive, Lauterbach, Phantom AI, QNX® (a division of BlackBerry), Stradvision, Vector, and Wittenstein.

As the automotive industry is moving from a traditional tiered supply chain to a software-defined vehicle ecosystem, such collaborations deliver key pre-integrated solutions enabling the development to shift left. Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery/Deployment (CD) are essential practices in DevOps that automate the process of building, testing, and deploying software. Joint solutions are integrated with CI/CD tools that streamline these workflows, enabling faster development cycles, improved code quality, and enhanced collaboration among teams. This can leverage Synopsys VDK integration with cloud provider infrastructure.

For more information on the Synopsys VDK for TI TDA5 and electronics digital twins for automotive verification and validation, contact Synopsys or TI. A demonstration will be available at CES 2026 in Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall, N115.