Transforming Automotive Industry with Software Defined Vehicles

The Evolution of Car Buying Decisions

In the yesteryears, a car buying decision used to be based on its engine potential, fuel efficiency, and space, besides the highly subjective factor of looks. Nowadays, however, a car is purchased depending on the number of convenience features and connectivity it provides. These 4-wheeled machines have almost transformed their purpose of existence from convenient transportation to making our lives easier through specially designed gizmos, which are the output of a vast array of software and hardware applications.

The Role of Cloud Technology in Automotive Innovation

As we advance towards a sustainable future, automakers and all the ancillaries associated with them in the automobile industry have taken a leap forward by coalescing Automotive, Data, and Cloud technologies to create cars that remember all our important functions and execute them in a manner much higher than what the human brain can afford to work out.

Utilizing Cloud-Based Systems

Vehicle manufacturers and Tier-1 suppliers are making use of cloud-based data programs, scalable Internet of Things (IoT), and platforms where algorithms can be exploited to synthesize creativity and new knowledge. To procure such software, automotive manufacturers are coupling with Amazon Web Services to curate programs for cars that keep themselves updated in a timely manner.

Smart Vehicle Approach

In an ever-evolving environment, a Smart Vehicle approach has been emphasized, focusing on applications such as:

• Smart City
• Autonomous Driving
• Effortless communication between home and workplace
• HD map projection
• Usage-based insurance cover saving money
• Product innovations from mobility service facilitators

Challenges of Hardware and Software Integration

The fact that some hardware and software can’t be integrated has led to a new process of individually producing both by OEMs to avoid a tedious process. Arm’s latest announcement, SOAFEE reference implementation, is a collaboration of automakers, system integrators, semiconductors, software, and cloud technology leaders who have united to roll out novel open standards-based infrastructure for the Software Defined Vehicle (SDV).

Benefits of Software Defined Vehicles

SDV decouples hardware and software to aid OEMs and suppliers in creating developer-friendly portals to access data, tools, and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities with full life-cycle MLOps to design, ascertain, and deploy ML models efficiently.

Maximizing Cost Benefits and Innovation

The aforementioned techniques will help to:

• Maximize cost benefits
• Enhance developer productivity
• Achieve a higher rate of innovation

A comprehensive view of SDV also enables cloud-native capabilities to be enforced on new joint, high-performance computing in-vehicle (HPC) domain controllers. Vehicle functions run on these HPC units and are described by software that is evaluated, simulated, and delivered from the cloud, facilitating collaboration and escalating inventiveness.

Examples of SDV Innovation

1. The QNX (Blackberry) Intelligent Vehicle Data Platform (IVY) - a scalable, cloud-connected software platform that allows carmakers to read vehicle sensor data in real-time, normalize it, and gather decision-making insights both in the vehicle and in the cloud. IVY supports various vehicle operating systems and multi-cloud deployments to ensure compatibility across models and brands. It also applies machine learning to generate predictive insights for developing new features and performance enhancements.
2. NXP Semiconductor’s new S32G vehicle network processor - designed to offer a safe, edge-to-cloud compute solution for modern vehicles, enabling new cloud-powered services.
3. DXC Luxoft’s new platforms - responsive to end-to-end vehicle data flow, allowing data generated by automotive software to be transmitted to the cloud and shared with approved third parties. Users can conceptualize car data through a mobile application and control basic vehicle functionality.

Collaborative Efforts to Enhance Vehicle Functionality

Partnerships between automotive, cloud, edge, and data experts are creating universally adaptable platforms that will provide equitable ground for software development habitats. This progress will enhance vehicle functionality, augment customer experience, and open new segments in the industry while ensuring better safety, security, and privacy for users.

Source credits: Automotive, Data and Cloud Working Together Give Rise to the Software Defined Vehicle

Dean Phillips, Worldwide Technical Leader for Automotive, Amazon