Infineon and Flex target SDV architectures with zone controller development kit
Infineon Technologies and Flex have outlined a joint development platform aimed at accelerating the shift toward zonal E/E architectures in software-defined vehicles. The companies plan to introduce the zone controller development kit at CES 2026, positioning it as a modular reference for early ZCU evaluation and system design.
For eeNews Europe readers working on automotive electronics, the announcement offers insight into how suppliers are attempting to standardise and de-risk zonal controller development. It also highlights practical design trade-offs around scalability, cost optimisation, and reuse in next-generation vehicle platforms.
Modular approach to zonal E/E design
Zonal architectures are increasingly seen as a way to simplify vehicle wiring and reduce ECU proliferation, but they also introduce wide variation in peripheral requirements across vehicle classes. According to Infineon and Flex, existing zone control units are often over- or underspecified because they are not tailored to individual vehicle platforms.
The zone controller development kit is built around a building-block concept, combining around 30 reusable elements that can be configured into different ZCU variants. This approach is intended to allow developers to size power distribution, connectivity, and load control functions more precisely, while still leaving headroom for future vehicle derivatives.
In its reference configuration, the platform supports more than 50 power distribution channels, over 40 connectivity channels, and around 10 load control channels. A dual-MCU plug-on option is available for higher-end configurations that require increased I/O density and processing capability, with the option to later consolidate to fewer microcontrollers as feature sets are refined.
Hardware, software, and integration focus
The hardware platform integrates Infineon automotive components such as AURIX microcontrollers, OPTIREG power supplies, PROFET and SPOC smart power switches, and MOTIX motor control devices. Flex contributes system design, integration, and industrialisation expertise, reflecting its role as an automotive manufacturing and design partner.
On the software side, the development kit includes contributions from Vector, aiming to align the platform with established embedded software, testing and integration workflows. Functional coverage includes current and voltage protection, capacitive load switching, reverse polarity protection, secure data routing with hardware acceleration, A/B partitioning for over-the-air updates, and cybersecurity features.
Infineon and Flex state that the development kit is designed to support a “start with the superset” strategy, enabling early evaluation before components are removed to meet cost and platform constraints.
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