Functional Safety Drives Next-Generation SDVs with Automotive Compute Solutions
Arm Zena CSS is a high-performance, functionally safe computing platform for next-generation software-defined vehicles. Built on Arm Automotive-Enhanced IP supporting ADAS, IVI, AI cockpit workloads, and real-time control via a dedicated Safety Island with an Arm Cortex-R82AE cluster. Build on ASIL D systematic capabilities and targeting SDV safety applications, driving the functional safety needs and future SDV vehicle strategies.
Arm Zena CSS Safety powers software-defined vehicles with built-in safety and AI support. Featuring a dedicated safety island, it handles real-time control, diagnostics, and fault management at ASIL D levels.
Features and Benefits
Arm Zena CSS provides ASIL D systematic and up to ASIL D diagnostic capability on compute platform to enable ADAS, IVI workloads.
Safety Island
The Safety Island provides a high-integrity component to collect and manage system level faults with ASIL D diagnostic capability.
Arm Zena CSS delivers easy-to-integrate safety features to help partners speed time to market.

Arm Zena CSS Safety Specifications
Arm Zena CSS Safety Island is a dedicated, always-on subsystem designed for system-level diagnostics, fault management in safety-critical automotive environments.
- Built on a lock-stepped Cortex-R82AE cluster for ASIL D diagnostic and systematic capability
- Manages clock, voltage, and system reset functions
- Plays a critical role in system boot-up
- Operates in an always-on, isolated power and clock domain
- Executes safe diagnostic monitoring independently of main compute
- Integrates a Fault Management Unit (FMU) to detect, classify, and respond to hardware faults
- Includes a Message Handling Unit for secure internal communication across the platform
Explore Arm Zena CSS

Arm Zena CSS
Arm Zena CSS is the fastest path to building high-performance automotive SoCs on Arm. It delivers leading performance-per-watt and functional safety and cybersecurity solutions to accelerate time–to–market.

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

Arm Cortex-R82AE
Arm Cortex-R82AE is the highest performance real-time processor for safety-related applications from Arm, implementing the 64-bit Armv8-R AArch64 architecture.
Safety for AI and CSS for Heterogenous Redundant Executions
AI is transforming automotive applications, from autonomous driving to in-vehicle experience and predictive maintenance. Arm Zena CSS delivers energy-efficient, heterogeneous processing with advanced features to boost AI performance. Its systematic developed primary compute platform supports and enables partners to build redundant software execution strategy, cross-checks of sensor algorithms with and without AI inference for reliable and predictable autonomous driving. The Safety Island provides a platform for partners to monitors this orchestration, offering a scalable solution for evolving AI needs.
Safety for ADAS
Delivering new ADAS features quickly is now a key differentiator for automakers, as safety expectations and standards like NCAP evolve in the era of AI-Defined and autonomous vehicles. Arm Automotive CSS helps accelerate silicon deployment and provides a compute platform designed to meet the highest ASIL standards for ADAS and autonomy.
Safety for Safe Digital cockpit
In SDVs, digital cockpit systems are central to the user experience. Arm Zena CSS supports the consolidation of mixed-criticality workloads, such as infotainment, Instrument cluster, and AI-powered assistant on a single ECU with multi host OS of Android, Linux and similar with varied safety integrity levels, helping manufacturers deliver consumer-grade experiences. The Arm Zena CSS coupled with Arm Automotive Enabled ISP and GPU portfolio would enable systems to fulfil Driver monitoring systems, Safe graphics for tell-tales and an independent safety island providing a platform to execute safe plausibility checks.
Talk with an Expert
Find out how Arm Zena CSS can accelerate your Automotive development.