When it comes to the transformation to fully software defined vehicles, nobody really has a dedicated and all-encompassing strategy yet, although OEMs are quite active in sharing their vision in public and the media. However, the automotive industry is used to taking one step at a time. Visionaries often fail at the point, where short-time business success is more important than laying the groundwork for a fundamental base towards SDVs. Furthermore, rusty company structures, the lack of communication between the different development departments and strict deadlines, derived by the non-technical business layers make it increasingly impossible to really drive innovation in existing products.

Industry Challenges in the Shift to SDVs

Already a huge problem for the OEMs, these circumstances stack up for suppliers and multiply the further you go down the Tier list. Undoubtedly this raises the question of how suppliers can prepare to efficiently accompany the transition to SDVs and above all how they raise awareness from the OEMs to rely on their expertise and innovative products.

Opportunities for Suppliers in the SDV Ecosystem

Let’s first have a brief look at what an SDV means, when it comes to the assets of the systems, used in the car itself – a starting point for each supplier to approach a potential customer for cooperation.

Vehicles typically have a varying number of ECUs, from simpler configurations with fewer ones to advanced systems with over a hundred, enabling supplier involvement at many levels. Well-funded OEMs buy software or the whole device directly and only involve themselves with the interoperation of those components within the vehicle network. Even dedicated work packages can be phased out and developed by external companies. A model, which has evolved in the last decades, providing benefits for both the OEM and the Tiers. Finally, engineers from suppliers are involved in the development process of certain assets – either directly as part of the team initially or when deadlines are at risk of not being met. Different business models seem possible and in that regard the industry has created its own ecosystem.

But how does this change now with the transition towards SDVs? From a technical perspective one of the goals of SDVs is to reduce the number of dedicated components within a vehicle network drastically to minimize the dense physical space requirements in the backbone of the car body. In other words – the desire is to have fewer computers combined with more power and more functional coverage, while reducing the required space and ideally harnesses all over the vehicle. By default, this eliminates some options for the suppliers to develop stand-alone ECUs and to sell them to OEMs. Still, what are the actual assets then for the SDVs? Of course, one could name the few powerful computers in the cars themselves, but that would be too high-level and due to the increased volume of functionality and complexity, the list of suppliers able to develop a full standalone HPC is very slim. Finally, let’s raise the question what makes an SDV sub-component a valuable asset and if there are even some dedicated aspects to concentrate on as a supplier of SDV components.

The Evolving Role of Operating Systems and Virtualization

The core part of an HPC needs to be a dedicated operating system. Being familiar with the most frequently used ones is the first step leading to advanced knowledge. To be able to separate functionality – i.e. the safety critical one from the rest – virtualization techniques need to be deployed. A key aspect is to further master the build process for the operating system, such as the Yocto project for Linux based systems or specific toolchains for QNX. Are vehicle vendors likely to set up the base operating system including virtualization and the corresponding CI/CD chains on their own or will they eventually consult system experts to harden the backbone of the SDV HPCs? We already see that a lot of vendors drive their own solutions. While in general it might not be the best idea to move away from the opensource approach, intellectual property considerations driving force for those decisions. Despite this knowledge being kept from the public, the applied technical principles mostly stay the same in those proprietary operating systems, thus enabling suppliers with a broad expertise to become familiar with the topics easily and quickly. Hence suppliers should always put the focus on educating employees to establish the required base knowledge in the areas of (Linux-based) operating systems, virtualization and build management.

Communication Technologies: The Backbone of SDVs

SDVs, leveraging the advantages of HPCs, thrive by making use of various techniques and mechanisms, which are open to anyone to become familiar with. Communication technologies are key, starting from the internal networks within the car such as traditional vehicle networks (CAN, LIN, etc.) and continuing through Ethernet backbones, which serve as a core infrastructure ingredient. With less, but more powerful components being placed in the domain or zone networks of an SDV, inter process communication comes into focus within those components as a crucial aspect. Again, virtualization is essential.

Naturally the vehicle needs to open various communication channels to the outside. Connections into the OEM’s backend, short-range communication to infrastructure and other vehicles in the context of CAR-2-X and Wi-Fi/BT access for car passengers are the most common features to be listed here. All those areas include a variety of different protocols and standard implementations which are used. A solid foundational understanding of core principles, combined with specialized expertise in specific mechanisms such as WebRTC for streaming applications, can present valuable opportunities for suppliers to contribute.

Application Development: A Gateway for Supplier Innovation

An almost indefinite number of options is presented to software providers in the area of application development. Given that the host operating system of a HPC is well-designed – which as previously mentioned could also be a point of emphasis of suppliers’ business models – applications can be developed individually for each customer or vehicle model, leveraging virtualization within the base target operating system. Some interesting fields for exploration include driver assistance algorithms, AI-driven applications or transitioning safety-critical functionality into the SDV ecosystem. Particularly the latter presents a huge challenge for OEMs, as the aforementioned functionality not only adheres to strict standards, but also needs to run in real-time capable environments. Tailoring parts of the whole HPC operating system in that regard is a dedicated task to be solved. A core component of SDVs is the option for over-the-air software updates. Providing a framework to enable this functionality can be a point of emphasis for suppliers as well.

Cybersecurity: Safeguarding the Future of SDVs

A sophisticated Cybersecurity strategy rounds up the profile of a solid knowledge base, incorporating aspects such as secure boot, communication and storage using the latest algorithms and key sizes, authentication and authorization techniques, access control mechanisms or intrusion detection/prevention systems to assure Cybersecurity properties are preserved throughout the whole lifecycle of the vehicle. As the field is comparatively new, the number of experts on the market is rather limited, which makes Cybersecurity in automotive structures an attractive business area for the different Tier levels.

Compliance and Standards: Building Credibility in SDVs

In the context of transitioning Safety-critical functionality into SDV design, learning and controlling industry standards and norms is inevitable. ISO 26262 defining functional safety of road vehicles, ISO 9001 for general QM considerations often used in automotive environment or the fast-arising ISO/SAE 21434, defining Cybersecurity requirements are only a few of the various norms out there. Knowing at least the content of those standards, but ideally being certified according to them is another aspect, where suppliers can thrive in bringing expertise to OEM’s SDV value chains.

Testing and Validation: Driving Reliability in SDV Integration

The often-overlooked but vital area of testing deserves unequivocal attention in the context of SDVs. While unit testing should be the centre of everyone’s component development process, system-wide test procedures move even more into focus. With a lot of functionalities combined into one single HPC, a solid integration and regression test framework on a system level is indispensable. Penetration testing seems to be at least as important, also covering the increasing demand for protection against Cybersecurity threats.

Conclusion: Unlocking the Supplier Potential in the SDV Revolution

Given those different and partially unique areas of potential contributions, suppliers must tailor themselves to not only gain and maintain a profound technical expertise in the topics, they want to contribute to, but also need to setup a sophisticated marketing strategy to promote this area of expertise towards the OEMs. Different approaches are in scope, solving this intricate chicken-egg like problem. Regardless of that, it is unquestionable that the whole industry needs to retreat from the latest trends to prioritize low-cost over quality. Honest self-evaluation needs to take place regarding ancient software code bases and system cores and investments in the right areas are key, taking this analysis into consideration. Only then will innovation be able to drive the transition of SDV and only then can the hidden potential of suppliers be unleashed.