How SDVs will change mobility

The availability of software updates that distinguish the SDV approach will first allow an elevated level of vehicle customization, with new features that can be activated individually according to the specific needs of the driver. Multiple sensors will allow the vehicle to communicate with the surrounding environment, collecting useful data in real time that can be sent to the cloud. This will allow a continuous improvement of the functions and services integrated in the vehicle, which in turn will be able to receive updates over the air.

Software is much faster and easier to update than hardware, ensuring high flexibility for the SDV approach. Not only that, today we are rightly led to think that a vehicle offers the best performance when it leaves the factory. In an architecture in which the software can be continuously updated and improved, a vehicle could be able to perform better after delivery than when it left the factory.

In current systems, each ECU works autonomously and independently from the others, sharing only the strictly necessary information with the other ECUs. Furthermore, the system is closed, in the sense that software updates are either not possible or not centralized. In next-generation vehicles, the migration to the zonal system will involve the introduction of a central ECU that will manage the updating of the entire system by decoupling the software component from the hardware one.

The reduction in the number of ECUs, in addition to allowing a centralization of the calculation operations, will have the advantage of reducing the complexity, interfaces, and costs of the solution. The time to market for new features or products to be introduced on the vehicle will also be reduced.

The SDV approach, in which the software component becomes dominant over the hardware, will require secure and reliable data protection mechanisms and will have a high interaction with the cloud. One of the first challenges to be faced will therefore be to protect the integrated ecosystem. The current safety systems integrated in the vehicles will no longer be sufficient, and the connection between the vehicle and the cloud server will have to be protected and guaranteed.

The ECUs in the vehicle must provide high protection against tampering, both passive and active. The system will need to be able to detect vehicle anomalies and send a notification when any type of attack has been identified.

The transition to an SDV model will require significant changes from vehicle manufacturers and from anybody who will have to manage the vehicle throughout its useful life:
• The software must be continuously developed, and vehicle software updates must be allowed and distributed even after leaving the factory.
• The amount of data collected from vehicles through multiple sensors will drastically increase, and connection between vehicles will be possible (Figure 2). This will require the availability of systems on the cloud that can accept and analyze this huge flow of data, providing almost real-time processing.
• Automotive E/E architecture will become increasingly modular and service-oriented, making it easier to reuse various software components.
• Security will become more important. New strategies will have to be established to prevent, identify, or block any cyberattacks.