3 ways software-defined vehicles will transform the automotive industry

Imagine a world where you don’t have to go to the car dealership to get your car serviced; instead, you press a button or make a call, and the update happens in real time. In this world, you can keep your car for several years, and when it feels outdated or you want a new feature, you might not need to buy a new one. Features that you might not even be able to think of now – like your back seat being a fully functioning second office with Wi-Fi® and a webcam – could become a reality.

I already live in that world. I drive a software-defined vehicle (SDV), which is a car where software controls the operation, design and user experience, rather than just hardware. Designing with a software-first approach allows manufacturers to improve vehicles over time and provide new experiences and customizations for both the driver and passengers.

We’re in the early stages of SDV adoption, but its growth is momentous. Manufacturers are embracing SDV architectures, which will soon change the driving experience for consumers and the automotive industry.

Let’s look at three ways I see SDVs impacting the future of the automotive industry.

Increased collaboration between technology companies and auto manufacturers

In electrical engineering, electronics are structured into different sections, called zones. A car can perform several different functions per zone, ranging from steering to playing a radio. Zones are beneficial to manufacturers because they centralize all of these functions in three or four boards, which reduces the complexity of wires and increases design efficiency. So your front zone might perform functions such as wiper control, seat control, steering control and headlight control.

A zone architecture enables easier management of the software system, reduces overall latency and increases flexibility for updates and modifications, making it the first step to building an SDV. Reducing several boards to just three or four zones can enable and simplify software updates.

At the heart of each zone are semiconductors. Because of this, companies like ours work closely with auto manufacturers to provide the technologies that allow these vehicles to run on software systems, such as intelligent power distribution across various temperatures; scalable computing solutions; signal conditioning to monitor sensors; and communication interfaces for in-vehicle networking such as Controller Area Network, Local Interconnect Network or Ethernet. Highly integrated radar chipsets help prevent accidents with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and real-time monitoring in battery-management systems monitor voltage, currents and temperatures to determine when a battery needs service.

SDVs centralize software and decouple hardware from software, enabling rapid innovation. The software leverages data from processors, microcontrollers (MCUs) and sensors to optimize overall vehicle performance and help increase safety, as in ADAS or battery monitoring and customization. As the industry designs chips that become smarter and can be programmed or modified to adopt new features, design engineers must write software for it.

A software-first approach

In order to create the world I describe, in which everything happens with the press of a button, software must be at the forefront of a design engineer’s mind to make vehicles flexible and customizable. SDVs are all about continual improvements and what you can add to the vehicle, even after it’s been purchased and on the road. Decoupling hardware from software enables manufacturers to accelerate their time to market. Hardware teams can release first, while software teams can do a parallel and staged rollout where they continually add to their product.

Similar to how a smartphone is updated, manufacturers can roll out updates and improvements to the software continuously. The consistent updates of SDVs enable drivers to keep their vehicles for longer. Because the electronics in the car are so advanced, drivers can browse and select new software upgrades from the manufacturer.

Having a software-based vehicle gives users the intelligence needed for them to really enjoy the vehicle, while giving car manufacturers the ability to push features to fix bugs (reducing the need to interact with vehicles) or to receive advanced diagnostics about vehicles. The implementation of hardware into a zone architecture reduces the overall number of boards and actions needed, reducing costs for manufacturers and enabling customers to have their issues addressed remotely, with no need to visit the service department at a dealership.

Opportunities for new business models

SDVs have the potential to adapt to different types of driving algorithms and preferences. If you want to drive autonomously, your SDV can implement a feature to stop at your favorite coffee shop every morning on the way to work. If several different family members share the same car, a user can set different preferences in an SDV for music or air conditioning based on who’s in the driver’s seat.

These examples each give manufacturers more opportunity for revenue streams; when drivers opt in for these enhanced features, manufacturers can seamlessly incorporate them into the vehicle and receive payments similar to a subscription-based model.

Look around you – everything is becoming smarter. SDVs can enable the integration of artificial intelligence into your vehicle to have a deeper connection with other devices and an industrial infrastructure. For example, an electric vehicle can communicate with your home and power it through vehicle-to-grid or vehicle-to-home communication.

It’s clear that SDVs are changing the automotive industry for both users and manufacturers, and with continual embrace of this pivot in the industry, so much more is possible.

Mark Ng, director of automotive systems at our company, authored this blog.