Software Defined Vehicle – technology for class & technology for mass : S.K. Singh
S. K. Singh – Chief Technology Officer, eAge Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
www.eAgeit.com
In the past, vehicle manufacturers differentiated themselves with mechanical features such as horsepower and torque. Today, consumers are increasingly looking for features defined by software, such as driver assistance, navigation, infotainment and intelligent connectivity solutions. Driver assistance is growing from limited automated driving to fully automated driving, thanks to the real-time assistance supported by the software features. “Software-defined vehicle” is a term that describes a vehicle whose features and functions are primarily enabled through software. Transformation of the automobile is all set from a product that is mainly hardware-based to a software-centric electronic device on wheels.
Premium vehicles today already have more than 100 million lines of software code, distributed among as many as few dozens of electronic control units (ECUs) with growing array of sensors, cameras, Radar, light detection and ranging (lidar) devices and other intelligent navigation systems assisted by software. Now the demand is to have all these features for the mass market of the vehicles, and it is anticipated price of the vehicles will be significantly determined by the software and electronic control unit to support the automation and connectivity very soon. Vehicles are set to be part of the internet of things (IoT), transmitting large amounts of data to and from the cloud, and software will process, manage and distribute all of that data. Software-defined vehicle will be able to receive over-the-air (OTA) updates that cover security patches, infotainment improvements, monitoring and tuning of core functional capabilities and dynamics of the vehicle.
Electron Control Units of the Software defined vehicles will send and receive vast amounts of data to and from sensors and actuators, giving vehicle manufacturers insight into every aspect of a vehicle, its performance, and its place in the connected ecosystem. This will give vehicle manufacturers the opportunity to improve life-cycle management and develop revenue-generating features they can offer to customers.
Engine controllers and safety features of the software defined vehicles will make it more demanding for the mass requirements and small priced segment of the vehicles will have bare minimum these software defined features of the premium vehicles.
A set of features of the Software-defined vehicles will be developed be the users themselves and it will be accessed over the air through mobile and wireless connectivity by the users. This will make it like open source for a standard platform and more and more features will come into reality which is not thought today.
A key piece in the evolution of the software-defined vehicle will be the separation of software and hardware development. A good analogy is what happened with cellphones. Originally, the software and hardware in cellphones were tightly coupled, but with the introduction of the smartphone, the phone transformed into a software platform that supports an ecosystem of applications regardless of the underlying hardware. The same is happening with vehicle software, as vehicle manufacturers start to create “walled gardens” of applications they and other approved parties can participate in.
Data Transfer and decision making will have many modes in the software-defined vehicles and vehicle manufactures will be able to release the software patches even after the vehicle has left the factory and owner is driving for some time on the road. Improved safety and security features, increased levels of autonomy and flexibility to add more and more features to the vehicle will migrate it a technology for the class to the technology for the mass.
The niche and premium market of vehicles will blur and small and mid-segment priced vehicles will provide many more features presently residing in the premium vehicles. As India is having a big pool of software engineers, Indian market is expected to lead the self-defined features in the software-defined vehicle globally.(Reference: www.aptv.com)
