The software-defined vehicle needs hardware that goes the distance

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How do we deliver a hardware platform that has the compute capability, flexibility and capacity to handle complex use cases that may not even exist yet?

www.ednasia.com, Apr. 29, 2022 – 

The software-defined vehicle has put the lifelong mantra of the automotive industry–a car is never better than when it is first sold–firmly to bed. Today, new players in the automotive market are disrupting the industry with the promise to new vehicle buyers of better and better experiences further down the road.

The draw of the software-defined vehicle is crystal clear. Consumers have seen how easily their smart devices can be upgraded, apps updated and faults fixed over-the-air. Now, with growing consumer interest in higher levels of autonomous driving, a concerted move towards electrified powertrains and infotainment technologies delivering a smartphone experience in-car, the idea of taking their vehicle to be hooked up to a dealership's computer to gain diagnostic information or update software and settings is becoming increasingly primitive.

The software-defined vehicle promises a far more polished, rewarding experience of car ownership. Consumers will get in their car to drive to work and, just like the software updates they're used to on their smartphones, they'll receive a notification that the steering system has been upgraded to give more precise handling, the advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) has a new capability to aid their highway driving or that their vehicle's range has just been increased based on analysis of thousands of hours of battery cycles.

Or perhaps they'll be given or offered an entirely new feature that was never part of their original purchase decision yet one they'll grow to rely upon, cementing their brand loyalty–at least until another manufacturer implements a superior solution.

For carmakers, differentiation of vehicles will move from generational upgrades or point-of-sale choices over engine options and infotainment systems to a need to stay ahead of the curve throughout a vehicle's life.

Accolades like "safest car of 20xx" will become a daily contest as car manufacturers tweak millions of lines of code in a bid to deliver a safer, more efficient and more enjoyable experience than their competitors.

But while a software-defined vehicle may be updated regularly, its base hardware–the sensors, compute modules, data buses and other technologies that the car has when it leaves the forecourt–are unlikely to change. This poses an interesting challenge: how do we deliver a hardware platform that has the compute capability, flexibility and capacity to handle complex use cases that may not even exist yet?

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