The concept of a “software-defined vehicle” (SDV) idea, which was popularized by Tesla, is having a massive impact on the Auto industry. The SDV enables the car to operate like a computer with the quick deployment of new features, seamless ongoing enhancements to the user experience, and easier servicing, and maintenance leading to less recalls and the development of new revenue sources. Not just cars, the rest of the world of transportation – cars, trucks, bikes, and so many more transport modes – have begun transitioning from a hardware-focused past to a software-defined future. The acronym CASE – for Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electrified – summarizes the changing industry with new business models such as subscription-based vehicle features, direct-to-consumer channels, and the growing demand for first-party data, new service delivery mindsets, and transformed supply chains with software, sensor, satellite support, and battery charging, among many other ecosystems. In the first of many Auto industry blogs, I would like to introduce the concept to the reader and then work our way through OEM architectures.
Software Defined Vehicles
Post Tesla’s Model (3, X,Y and S) vehicles, in addition to electrification, auto consumers expect complete digital integration between their cars and their lifestyles. Additionally, one can see that even in non-Tesla vehicles across manufacturers, personalization features are only increasing. And these are all being driven by software implementations of new networking & automation capabilities. Similar to the change in the telco industry, prior to 5G, while specialized hardware used to play a large part in how a driver experienced a car, the software is now playing a far bigger part. The term “software-defined vehicle” thus refers to this trend in which software significantly influences customer experience and, in certain situations, even the hardware specification (SWdV). New business models and forms of collaboration are also made available by this progress, which has a massive impact on development and operation.
Let’s first define a software-defined vehicle (SDVs).
SDVs use software to enhance cutting-edge in-vehicle experiences, and functions and to provide updates and new services wirelessly. They offer significant benefits for convenience and safety (Over The Air). SDVs can significantly increase revenue and improve customer relationships while assisting automakers, OEMs, and tier one suppliers in meeting stringent functional safety standards.
According to Deloitte[1], Software-Defined Vehicles are the next step in the automotive industry’s progression. They serve as the foundation for many other advances, such as self-driving and linked cars. They finally symbolize “the progressive shift of autos from highly electromechanical terminals to intelligent, extensible mobile electronic that can be continuously improved,” according to Deloitte. In order to enable seamless development and deployment from the cloud to the automobile, the move from hardware-defined to software-defined computing necessitates new development paradigms to accommodate advanced compute architectures and rising software complexity. This is something that cloud-native technology can help automakers achieve.
It is thus a given that as SDVs become a reality, automakers must redefine the vehicle development process in order to accelerate technological development and improve the in-vehicle driving experience. The SDV trend will transform the industrial value chain from top to bottom into three layers – the pure software layer, fundamental software layer, tool software, and electronic hardware stack.
Why Software-Driven Vehicle Development is hard
Three main reasons –
- SDVs change the nature of the development of automobile technologies into a cloud-native(microservice, AI/ML-based) model, all of which require a software-oriented approach to car development
- As in Telco, SDV is an ISV/OEM game, thus vendors need to help support this transition by automakers
- While the first two factors are a combination of technical capabilities and mindsets, the hardware part suppliers need to simultaneously transition to an IoT-like model where the electronic device needs to support embedding software
Conclusion
Automobiles of the future will be highly intelligent mechatronic machines. Although software-oriented, the role of hardware is still very important as a conduit for software to carry out its responsibilities. On the industry value chain, software-intensive electronic hardware and semiconductor hardware will generate the most added value and profits. The next blog will discuss Automobile OEM technology with an AWS partner providing an illustrative case study. We will focus on application and algorithm software, as well as software-intensive electrical hardware at both ends of the value chain, both of which have relatively high industrial-added value. These are increasingly the focus of OEMs, component enterprises, and technology suppliers.
References
[1] Deloitte Insights – “Software-Defined Vehicles – A Forthcoming Industrial Evolution” https://www2.deloitte.com/cn/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/software-defined-cars-industrial-revolution-on-the-arrow.html
Features Image by Dariusz Sankowski from Pixabay