RM48L952: Basic Questions about functionality, roadmaps, compile, connect and debug tools for MCUs in the TI Hercules RM48Lxxx family

Hi,

I am working on a functional safety project, hardware, firmware, software, and looking to see if Hercules Family, RM48Lxxx processor will work for our application.  Because our product has a 20+ years field lifetime, and is potentially a high volume product, we are doing an in-depth internal review of micro-controllers (MCUs) from all of the vendors that make "functional-safety" MCUs, and so am looking at the RM48LXXX family. 

I have been working with the TI development Kit TMDSRM48HDK to get familiar with the hardware as well as the development tools, so have a lot of questions about all of this.  Our application is going to need UL Certification according to UL-60730-1 Class B software, so I have also downloaded TI's implementation of the "Safety Library" and sample development projects using 60730-1 library.  Here are my questions.

We need a processor in the functional safety environment, capable of running "class B" UL-607300-1 compliant code.  Our questions revolve around:

Hardware and Development Tools

1. Any important differences between RM48x package types and variants that might affect
   1. Manufacturability (such as solderability)
   2. PCB tolerances (for instance for mBGA devices)
      1. For instance if mBGA devices ("micro BGA")device requires dificult manufacturing, we want to know this
   3. Thermal performance differences between gull-wing and mBGA packages
2. Any other issues, such as vibrations, performance in convection heat (due to fire) or any other issues which could affect reliability
3. Re: "Safe-TI Diagnostic Library" for functional safety CPUs.
   1. Current state of library in achieving 60730-1 conformance.
      1. Is coverage complete for all RM48Lxxx processor variants
   2. Roadmaps for next version of library, if any, if known.
4. Compiler Roadmaps
   1. Ti-Clang vs. TI-LTS, which one to choose and why?
      1. Availability of porting strategy to TI-Clang from TI-LTS for the RM48Lxxx SDK, Safety-Library, and other tools used for RM48Lxxx development.
5. Is it mandatory that we also use off-chip TI Smart Power Supply Module (TPS65381A) with RM48Lxxx MCU in order to achieve, EITHER
   1. Correct functioning of RM48Lxxx MCU
   2. Certification of conformance to UL-60730-1.
6. Availability of any certification roadmaps of TI for either UL60730-1 or IEC-61508
7. Hercules Safety MCU Development RM4 MKU Development Kit
   1. Which Debugger Pod should be used.  What are the differences between them?
   2. I am having a 'C' and 'asm' code alignment problem with the USB problem.  Looks like this problem just went away with latest compiler variant (20.2.7.LTS).  Can you comment?
   3. Is JTAG debugger better than USB?  USB stepping is very slow.

Availability of RM48Lxxx and Supply Chain

1. How can I find about about availability of specific processors in RM48x family, based on TI's ability to manufacture them at the rate we may need?
   1. Have any of the specific processors still listed curently had announced any of the following:
      1. Processor Deprecation, discontinuation, so it is unavailable for purchase, in either of the two mechanical configurations (gull-wing or mBGA)
      2. Processor EOL announcements.  How to find out if EOL is current or anticipated
2. Feature Roadmaps for specific processors in RM48x family, or announcements about availability of new variants?
   1. Minimum quantity required for TI to consider making a special variant specifically for ConnectDER
3. Any known near-term shortages of any processors in the RM48Lxxx family line?