Smart Vehicle Architecture Needed

In the time it takes to blink, your vehicle exchanges 15,000 pieces of data. By 2020, that number is expected to jump to roughly 100,000.

Consumer demand for safety and software-enabled features is increasing at an unprecedented rate. This increase in software-enabled capability impacts infotainment, user experience, active safety and connected-vehicle services, and paves the way for the ultimate application, autonomous driving.

As demand for software-enabled features grows, there is a corresponding increase in the need for computing horsepower. Just like the latest iPhone had to add more computing power to run all the new apps, we need to add more computing horsepower to the vehicle to run the latest features.

What this means is that the traditional architecture approach will no longer be viable and support the growth in content and complexity. There isn’t enough computing power to run the vehicle’s complex software algorithms, and the networking infrastructure cannot support the data transfer speeds of the future.

Historically, when new features such as heated seats were added to vehicles, engineers simply added a new control module and wiring. Nowadays, this strategy is no longer manageable. Five years ago, vehicles had 25% fewer circuits than today’s cars. Five years from now, that number will increase another 30%.

Data speeds within the car used to be in the range of 150 kilobits per second. We are now in the range of gigabytes per second – a massive increase – and we have not even come close to what is required for fully autonomous vehicles of the future.

More connectivity means more computing power, data and power distribution than ever before. And as the car becomes a supercomputer, with additional features and connectivity, its architecture or foundation needs to change radically. The vehicle-architecture approach of the past no longer works; it can’t support the growth in content and complexity.

For systems to keep up with this era of new mobility, it is necessary for them to be fully integrated with features such as electrification, active safety, automation and connectivity features. This is especially true with autonomous driving. The amount of computing power needed for an autonomous vehicle is staggering. These vehicles generate more data than ever before – data that must move around the vehicle faster than ever before.

Smart vehicle architecture is the key to making this a reality. The new approach enables the growth in content and complexity that the industry currently is experiencing.

There are three critical considerations for a smart architecture in the vehicle supercomputer era: flexibility, lifecycle and system resiliency.

Flexibility: Flexible software framework with a tailor-made computing, data and power distribution network designed to support it.

Lifecycle: Industry first where the software-defined features and compute power are separated and allowed to have different lifecycles.

Resiliency: Contemplates and addresses multilayer system fault tolerance, all while meeting redundancy requirements for the highest level of automotive safety integrity.

It is important that an architecture has the networking capability to move data from the vehicle’s sensors to the computing platforms at a rapid speed while also meeting the requirements for the highest level of automotive safety and security.

As the industry continues to rapidly change, it’s more important than ever to ensure our vehicles’ architectures can withstand this fast-paced industry transition. For this to become a reality, engineers must find a solution that enables features such as electrification, active safety, automation and connectivity simultaneously.

Glen De Vos is senior vice president, chief technology officer and president-Mobility and Services Group for automotive supplier Aptiv.