Breaking the Buzzword “SDV”
Part1
SDV though not a new buzzword, it has been in use for quite some time. Most techies will succumb to this new industrial Jargon soon. Most people are anxious whenever they hear a new jargon. I feel it is because it makes one feel left out of the conversations and inhibit themselves from effective communications. Never ever think of it as an obstacle, instead consider those buzzwords as opportunities. This article’s aim is to acquaint yourself to SDV and boost your confidence for effective participation and contribution. The term “SDV” is first ever coined by Tesla back in 2012.Don’t get astounded, SDV has been circling in the technological world for more than a decade. Let me expand the abbreviation for you “SDV” stands for” Software Defined Vehicle”. One can claim that most of the modern vehicles are already with loads of Software, then why is this new term again. It seems confusing isn’t it. Let’s dive a little into the history of automobiles. The world’s first automobiles were comparatively simpler and entirely mechanically operated. First ever automotive electronic components were not even available until the 1930’s, where OEMs offered Vacuum tube radios to their customers. Over the years technological trends, electrical and electronic systems have increased their luxury. Today a modern automobile is occupied with numerous so-called Electronic Control Units (ECUs) and their embedded system software controlling it. So, where comes this SDV as more software is already existent in the vehicle. Let us see a paradigm shift of communication devices which evolved from wired communication(telegraph/telephone) to wireless on one end and from single purpose (speech) to multipurpose (video communication, camera, internet, apps, social media, maps and lot more.)
What change do you see here?
I will give a few choices.
a. Hardware
b. Software
c. Hardware and Software
d. None of these
Part2
150 years ago, people didn't believe that they could communicate with words. 20 years ago, people would not have imagined the Nokia 1100 cellphone will be the legacy model in future and that it will be replaced by smartphones!!If you notice keenly, change is the one that is inevitable. But can you say what the change is? Is it a hardware change? Initially, yes! It was a hardware change. But the change took a different dimension when the mechanical components were replaced by electronic components. The revolution of transistors brought software into every part of the system. Nokia 1100 could never provide multitasking applications. You cannot make a phone call and take pictures at the same time. Moreover, if you want to add a new application, say a video application can only be added by the manufacturer as the operating system was never open source. As compared to the earlier proprietary operating system, now there is a multi-kernel operating system and Virtual Machines (VMs), hypervisors. You don't have to visit the OEM or service centers for an upgrade or new application installation. It can be downloaded over the air which is termed as OTA updates. The jargons FOTA, SOTA are the latest trends in the technical world which is Firmware and Software Over the Air respectively. Android opened the doors of application space to the common man and trend shifted to new age developers from OEM for the applications. Symbian (Nokia) which closed its gates was forced to shut down completely. The realization came very late, and the market leader lost its share to newcomers and eventually they had to switch to an open-source platform. Considering all these you can get a clear picture that the change we are talking about is software. But if you notice there is a significant trend in all these generations. software applications are slowly decoupled with the hardware. This is the key trend that SDV is pitching for the OEMs, consumers and suppliers.
Part3 -Architecture
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Whether it is the Grand Anicut or the Burj Khalifa the world always admires to it as ever.? That is not mere for its aesthetic beauty but for the science and engineering behind it. This is where the architectural intellectuals played their significant role. Though those examples are not related to the Automobile architecture, I have quoted it to emphasize the importance of Vehicle Architecture.
Let us rewind back to the history behind it. As mentioned earlier, if you investigate the early 1940's a typical vehicle in the past might contain very few, say 40 to 50 odd wires running for a length of 140 to 150 meters of cable with hardly any semiconductors or software in it.
On contrary, today we have 3000 to 4000 wires running for a length of 3 to 5 kms of Cable with 100 million lines of code programmed into a high-end automobile.
With current trends in the semiconductor industry and Artificial Intelligence booming out the numbers are going to explode with respect to the lines of code. Also, the processing power of semiconductors will also be huge.
So before pitching into the technicality involved in the "SDV" let us dive into the architecture.
As mentioned earlier present automobile consists 100s of ECU inside it i.e., electronic components.
Therefore, the architecture that needs to be understood is E/E architecture.
E/E stands for "Electrical/Electronic" and architecture referred here is the configuration, design concept and design method.
E/E architecture shall be described as a system that connects in-vehicle ECUs, Sensors, and actuators.
Each ECU is designed for a specific purpose say - Power steering, Airbag, Anti-lock Braking, Locking doors.
Electronic control Unit which initially commenced its journey with Engine control has expanded its wings across all the areas of automobile. It is a sin if the sensor data you obtain from an ECU is not shared to other ECU. You are truly wasting the potential of the fusion capability of sensors and networking capability of controlling units. It can conceive more realistic features and ideologies using it.
Part4 -Architecture Evolution
“Our Need will be the real creator”—PLATO
“I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness - to save oneself trouble”—AGATHA CHRISTIE
As Quoted above my opinion inclines towards Agatha Christie, i.e., invention arises from idleness and laziness to save oneself trouble.
Everyone agrees that the invention of the wheel is a major leap to mankind. I visualize that the application of the wheel is where the human developed his/her engineering mind. I don’t deny that wheel revolutionized the transportation, but man never limited its application only to that domain. Instead, he applied it first over pottery, spinning wheel for weaving cloth, pulley for load lifting, water wheels, windmills and so on.
If you notice carefully, you will believe that invention arises from idleness i.e., the invention of wheel saved human effort, which in turn provided a lot of idle time. Humans in turn utilized it for further inventions.
In the same way earlier automobiles had very minimal electrical content and no electronics during the 1950s. Later when the electrical content grew in 1960s, and electronics joined together in 1970s there is a need for alignment and organization of all the electrical and electronic components.
If we have closer look at the key stages and technological developments, the Vehicle Electronics Architecture evolution can be clearly understood:
As mentioned earlier before 1970s the electronic elements are very minimal, and vehicles were mainly mechanical. Therefore, the E/E architecture focused on Simplicity i.e. ?basic wiring for functions like lighting, ignition and other essential functions. A new era commenced with the arrival of microprocessors and controllers. After the 1970s it enabled the conception of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) used in Engine management and other critical functions. More and more electronic systems have expanded with functions such as Airbags, infotainment, GPS Navigation, ABS etc. which compelled the integration of the systems and increased network communication. In the early 2000s architecture shifted towards a modularized and decentralized approach involving more complexity. Innovation in recent times after 2010s has accelerated the development of domain specific and Zonal architectures due to increased computing power and networking capability augmenting the efficiency, flexibility, and interconnectivity of systems.
The E/E architecture changes will cover three key sections of:
The overall trends involve both decoupling of hardware from software and the migration of E/E architecture approaches away from decentralization towards greater centralization by domain and zonal implementation.
Glimpse of Communication Architecture Evolution
Senior Hardware Design Engineer,Automotive, EV BMS, ECU
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