Automotive Innovations within the electronics industry

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Safety issues stimulate systems design approach

It is the integration of safety features, such as stability control or ABS, with information systems, enabled by in-vehicle networks, that is driving a wholesale change in architectural-level design in vehicles. Functionality such as drive-by-wire and autonomous vehicle features will require considerably more complex control systems than previously. Vehicle manufacturers are looking at the most effective methods of managing complex electronics systems architectures.
The incoming trend is to take a more holistic approach to ECU and network design, applying design-for-safety methodology to the whole system, rather than safety-specific functions. The desire to interconnect the fast-growing number of discrete ECUs, will give way to the necessity of developing more highly integrated ECUs.
Based, for example, on 32bit multicore microcontrollers, or application specific processors, these devices will provide built-in redundancy, control multiple subsidiary ECUS, reduce component count and consequently, BOM and manufacturing costs. Vehicle manufacturers including PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault are highlighting the importance of bringing multicore capability into the Autosar standard, for example. Autosar is regarded as the best approach to optimising the benefits of advanced microelectronics technology at the systems level. Although, the market is looking at the 2009 to 2012 timeframe for these developments, the supply chain is energised and is beginning to respond.
Considerable cooperation between component and systems suppliers will be essential. Indeed, it is already happening as the far-sighted vendors are aligning themselves. Chip level partnerships are hastening the integration of microcontroller, sensor, actuator and analogue circuitry. Semiconductor and Tier 1 and 2 suppliers are cooperating at a systems level.
Design, validation and deployment of these system-level, in-vehicle networks are the challenges of the future. All partners are looking for a breakthrough in hardware/software system-level design methodologies. With the drive towards reducing automotive design cycle time, the focus is shifting to finding new processes and tools to handle this increasing complexity.