New Car, New Architecture
BMW recently introduced its model of a heated seat subscription, for 17
Euros per month. You do not have to be a prophet to predict that it will
show strong seasonal fluctuations. However, as new on-demand services
will change their business models, OEMs are struggling to understand how
the software inside has to be designed and set up.
The centerpiece of embedded software progress is the EE (electrical/electronic)
architecture. As electronics hardware, network communications,
software applications and wiring converge into one integrated system that
controls an ever-increasing number of vehicle functions, OEMs and suppliers
are looking to outside expertise.
AVL’s major advantage is its knowledge of
mechanics, but also its experience in developing
e-mobility solutions and software
functions, which goes back decades. Compared
to newcomers, AVL’s know-how of
the entire system architecture – and its elements
– is
incomparable.
That’s crucial to reliability, as the transformation
inside the vehicle is enormous: An
average car today has up to 200 million lines
of code, which are expected to grow to 300
million lines by the end of the decade. Centralization
is key: What used to be up to
130 ECUs in a car is now centralized on
3 – 5 in-vehicle servers, according to expert
Dirk Geyer, AVL Software and Functions.
The permanent change requires constant updating
and testing, traditional fields of competence
of AVL.
“EE is nothing completely new, having
come into the vehicle with the turn signal
and radio decades ago,” says Stefan Schmid,
Managing Director of AVL Software and
Functions, but is now in a vital role as high-performance computing and
Big Data have proven to be gamechangers. “We’re going to have a pretty
dynamic future,” he says.
4 4 embedded software development
WE’RE GOING TO
HAVE A PRETTY
DYNAMIC FUTURE.”
Stefan Schmid
Managing Director of AVL Software
and Functions
“
One of the key drivers is Autonomous
Driving, which is still underestimated.
Once Level 3 or Level 4
features are on the road, users will
have more time to consume apps.
Schwab therefore predicts a “revolution
by small steps”.
As revolutions are inevitable, collaboration
is unavoidable – an essential
basis for success in this fastchanging
world. In AVL, we work
not only with OEMs and Tier1s,
but also with major US software
companies and cybersecurity specialists.
This work sets things in motion
and allows developments to be
multi-perspective. You will feel the
difference the next time you log in.