Overview

Accelerating Time to Market for Safe, AI-Ready Automotive SoC

Arm Zena Compute Subsystem (CSS) is a pre-verified, safety-certified compute platform designed to accelerate silicon development for software-defined vehicles (SDVs). It integrates functional safety, cybersecurity, and AI-ready processing to reduce engineering effort and shorten time to market by up to a year. This solution is built for automotive silicon developers creating advanced driver assistance systems, in-vehicle infotainment, and AI-driven cockpit features.

Accelerate time to market icon

12 Months
Accelerated Time to Market Potential 

Engineering resources saving icon

>20%
Engineering Resource Savings

Features and Benefits

Fastest Path to
Production Silicon

Get to market faster with a pre-integrated compute solution that combines application and real-time processing, functional safety, and built-in cybersecurity — all certified to ISO 26262 and ISO 21434. Arm Zena CSS can shorten development timelines by a year or more.
Head Start on
Software Development

Jumpstart SDV software design with a Fixed Virtual Platform (FVP) model and reference firmware alongside Arm Zena CSS. Develop and virtually prototype AI applications, safety functions, and system code in parallel with silicon design.
Leveraging the
Arm Ecosystem

Standardizing Arm architecture at the CSS level and enabling early software porting through shared modelling tools enables the Arm ecosystem - reducing platform fragmentation, supporting more flexible SoC design, and enabling smoother AI integration across the vehicle.
Efficient Performance for Smarter Vehicles

Arm Zena CSS delivers low-power, high-performance compute for safety-critical workloads like ADAS and infotainment—cutting engineering effort by 20% while enabling scalable, AI-ready development.
Components

Components of Arm Zena CSS

Arm Zena CSS combines Arm’s latest IP and development tools to deliver optimized compute for SDVs — with safety, security and AI in mind.


  • Armv9-A Automotive Enhanced Cortex-A CPUs
  • Cortex-R-based functional Safety Island
  • Cortex-M-based Security Enclave
  • CMN Automotive Enhanced coherent interconnect and system/power management IP

Optional integration of Arm Mali GPUs, ISPs, and custom AI accelerators

Compute Subsystems

Explore Arm Zena CSS

Arm Zena CSS Safety

Arm Zena CSS Safety

Arm Zena CSS Safety Island, with ASIL D capability, provides high-integrity fault monitoring and system control for automotive safety.

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Arm Zena CSS Security

Arm Zena CSS Security

Arm Zena CSS security enclave targets ASIL B safety, mitigating threats for next-gen automotive E/E architectures.

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Related Products

Explore Products and Technologies

Arm Cortex-A720AE

Cortex-A720AE

Top-performing Arm Cortex-A CPU for safety-critical systems.

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Arm CoreLink CMN S3AE

Neoverse CMN S3AE

Coherent mesh network for large core count automotive designs with support for chiplet connectivity.

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Arm Mali-C720AE

Mali-C720AE

The most performant, flexible, and efficient Arm automotive image signal processor (ISP).

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Use Cases
Automotive Innovation Where It Matters Most

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI workloads and use cases are expanding and defining more applications than ever. This is especially true for the next generation of software-defined vehicles, which is redefining how people interact with their vehicles. Arm Zena CSS provides a range of energy-efficient heterogeneous processing elements with the latest architectural features to enhance AI capabilities for new vehicle applications.

Talk with an Expert

Find out how Arm Zena Compute Subsystems can provide the balance of power efficiency and performance for automotive needs.

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Resources

Arm Zena CSS Resources

CSS Resources

Blogs

Key Takeaways

  • Arm Zena Compute Subsystem (CSS) reduces development timelines by up to 12 months with a pre-verified and safety-certified compute solution.
  • It integrates a Arm Cortex-R-based safety island and Arm Cortex-M-based security enclave to meet ISO 26262 and ISO 21434 standards.
  • Fixed Virtual Platform models and reference firmware allow parallel development of software and silicon for software-defined vehicles.
  • The subsystem supports heterogeneous compute with Arm CPUs, GPUs, ISPs, and custom AI accelerators for flexible automotive system design.
  • It enables automakers to deliver scalable, AI-ready performance for workloads such as advanced driver assistance, in-vehicle infotainment, and AI-driven cockpit systems.