Marelli, mobility technology supplier to the automotive sector, announced it will showcase its latest zone control unit (Zone), built in collaboration with Infineon, at the upcoming Auto China show in Beijing.

Marelli Zone Control Units (Zones) are advanced electronic control units, that are placed in specific zones of the vehicle and manage various functions, consolidating electronic control units (ECUs) from multiple domains – including lighting, body, audio, power distribution, propulsion, thermal management, chassis control, and vehicle diagnostics, the company said.

The adoption of Infineon’s AURIX TC4x microcontrollers in the Zones brings significant benefits to OEMs, according to Marelli. The special data routing engine (DRE) within Infineon AURIX microcontrollers ensures extremely low latency levels when connecting CAN and Ethernet, enabling the Zones to consolidate numerous electronic computing units into a single piece of hardware.

The consolidation doesn’t compromise performance, providing a robust foundation for centralized architecture. Additionally, Infineon’s microcontrollers support hardware virtualization, another key element of next-generation zonal architecture, enabling parallel execution of multiple virtual machines and therefore disparate domain and safety applications within the same Zone.

“Marelli and Infineon have a longstanding collaboration, and the joint development of our Zones is yet another significant step forward,” said Nate Sladek, vice president of strategy and product management within the Electronic Systems division at Marelli. “Thanks to Infineon’s key contribution, Marelli is well-positioned to strengthen its primary role as a partner to OEMs venturing into zonal architectures. This collaboration allows us to offer cutting-edge solutions that enhance the driving experience and build upon our industry-leading position in zonal architectures.”