Automotive electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures are evolving rapidly as electrification and software-defined vehicles (SDVs) reshape vehicle design. Rather than add more electronic control units (ECUs), OEMs are moving toward zonal architectures that reduce system complexity, improve scalability and support faster software deployment.
At the same time, rising power demands and efficiency requirements are driving adoption of 48 V as the next-generation low-voltage backbone. As vehicle power demands grow, traditional 12 V systems can no longer deliver the efficiency, or headroom OEMs require. This drives an inevitable shift to 48 V architectures for next‑generation EV and hybrid platforms that presents demanding new challenges for engineers. In response, NXP is helping reduce engineering overhead and shorten time-to-market with a ready-to-adopt 48 V zonal ECU solution that manages data management, power distribution and audio capabilities.
The NXP CoreRide Z248 zonal reference system delivers a comprehensive, A-sample-grade ECU that integrates optimized silicon, intelligent power management and pre integrated, safety-certified software. As the first complete zonal ECU reference system developed under the NXP CoreRide platform, it builds on a system-level approach combining high-performance compute, deterministic networking and tightly integrated software. This provides OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers with a stable, scalable foundation for SDV architectures, allowing engineering teams to instead focus on differentiation such as advanced user experiences.
The NXP CoreRide Z248 zonal reference system is a high-performance, fully integrated hardware-software solution, designed to unlock 48 V architectures by scale.
Compute, Networking and 48 V Power Domain
From a hardware perspective, the Z248 zonal reference system is a high-performance zone controller with three essential roles. The first is raw compute performance to manage body systems, diagnostics and mixed criticality workloads. The second is the gateway functionality for intelligent data routing via Ethernet, controller area network flexible data rate (CAN FD) or local interconnect network (LIN) networks. Last but not least is power distribution and conversion for zonal functions including an integrated 8‑channel audio amplifier to support the industry trend of embedding audio amplification directly into zonal ECUs.
At the core of the design is NXP’s S32K5 microcontroller family featuring Arm® Cortex®-M7 and Cortex-R52 cores in single, multiple or lockstep configurations. With innovative magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) technology, hardware security (including post quantum features), multilayer isolation and ASIL D compliance, the S32K5 enables safe, secure and scalable zonal controllers.
For additional design flexibility, designers have the option to define specific board requirements such as the number of CAN or LIN channels. The reference design can be further customized by customers sourcing minor components from their preferred suppliers to complete the system.
NXP CoreRide Z248 zonal reference system hardware block diagram.
Fully Integrated Hardware and Software Solution
Building on the NXP CoreRide platform, the Z248 zonal system removes key integration barriers associated with SDV development. Through close collaboration with leading software partners, NXP provides a deeply integrated board support package (BSP) solution that goes beyond Microcontroller Abstraction Layer (MCAL) / Real Time Drivers (RTD). This extends vertically through middleware and horizontally at full board level to cover analog parts.
This solution includes the pre-integration of the Vector software platform , enabling OEMs and Tier 1s to simply connect their application software. They receive a fully functional ECU in significantly less time, streamlining their development and ensuring seamless integration within the zonal ECU architecture. The tight integration of Vector’s software platform and NXP’s CoreRide Z248 allows for valuable optimization of different key KPIs such as the optimization of the boot and startup behavior to ensure fast and deterministic ECU availability.
It also comes with a CI/CT/CD-ready environment—continuous integration (CI) / continuous testing (CT) / continuous delivery (CD). This is ideal for rapid adoption, continuous builds and accelerated software quality through higher frequency end-to-end feedback loops. And because zonal ECUs need high, predictable performance, the Z248 zonal system includes full validation (functional, non-functional, stress, reliability and robustness) and more than 40 optimized KPIs derived from vehicle-level use cases. This enables engineers to benchmark system behavior immediately and scale with confidence.
NXP CoreRide Z248 zonal reference system software architecture.
Designed for Evolving Automotive Needs
Across battery electric vehicle (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and internal combustion engine (ICE) platforms, vehicles are becoming more electrified and software driven. This means more sensors, actuators, compute workloads and frequent over-the-air (OTA) updates. In turn, development cycles are shortening as OEMs address demands for advanced safety, functionality and user experiences.
The NXP CoreRide Z248 zonal reference system accelerates this transition by providing a high quality, fully integrated starting point for teams new to zonal architectures and a fully optimized zonal ECU for teams already implementing zone control. In both cases, NXP is helping to significantly lower development barriers and enable faster progression toward scalable SDV architectures. The Z248 zonal system is expected to be widely available before the end of 2026. Learn more about the NXP CoreRide Z248 zonal reference system and the shift to 48 V zone control.
