FUNCTIONAL SAFETY IP

with Imagination

Functional safety ensures that electronic systems continue to operate correctly, even when faults occur, protecting lives and preventing serious failures in critical markets like automotive, industrial automation, and healthcare.

Imagination’s GPU IP for functional safety is designed with built-in hardware and software mechanisms to support fault detection, risk mitigation, and system reliability. To further enhance safety-critical performance, Imagination partners with CoreAVI to deliver GPU software drivers that comply with industry standards such as ISO 26262, ensuring our solutions meet the strict requirements of automotive and industrial environments.

Imagination’s GPU IP for functional safety is designed with hardware and software mechanisms that meet strict industry standards, supporting fault detection, risk mitigation, and system reliability.

Functional safety standards define the processes, requirements, and performance criteria that ensure electronic systems operate safely in the presence of faults or failures.

In the automotive sector, the key global standard is ISO 26262: Road Vehicles Functional Safety.

It covers the full development lifecycle of automotive electronics, including hardware, software, and system-level considerations. ISO 26262 introduces the concept of Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL), ranging from ASIL A (lowest) to ASIL D (highest), which classify the risk level based on the potential impact of a failure.

Other relevant functional safety standards include:

• IEC 61508: General standard for functional safety in industrial applications.

• ISO 21448 (SOTIF): Focused on the safety of the intended function, covering scenarios where faults aren’t caused by system failure but by system limitations or misuse.

Imagination’s GPU IP, including the XS series, is developed following ISO 26262-compliant processes, supporting ASIL B certification. This makes it ideal for use in safety-critical automotive systems such as digital dashboards, head-up displays (HUDs), and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

Products achieve functional safety certification through a structured process that includes design, validation, and verification according to recognised standards like ISO 26262. This often involves independent assessment by a certification body.

Imagination’s XS series GPUs are developed with functional safety in mind, featuring built-in safety mechanisms that support easier certification for automotive and industrial use cases.

ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) is part of the ISO 26262 functional safety standard. It categorises risk levels from A (lowest) to D (highest). Automotive GPUs must meet the appropriate ASIL level to ensure critical systems like digital dashboards, ADAS, and infotainment continue functioning safely, even if faults occur.

Our GPU IP supports ASIL B certification, making it suitable for a wide range of automotive safety applications.

Yes!

As AI becomes integral to automotive and industrial systems, ensuring functional safety for AI workloads is increasingly important. Imagination’s GPU IP combines graphics and compute capabilities with safety features, enabling secure, reliable AI processing in safety-critical environments.