E-mobility Technology Winter 2020

e-mobility Technology International | Vol 7 | Winter 2020
power of an
HPC will not be
utilized when
the car begins
its service life.
Probably even
the biggest
amount of
computing power
and memory may
be reserved for
the installation
of new functions
and feature
upgrades over
the service life of
the vehicle – and
new business
models that come with it. Of course, this will only
work, if the HPC provides cyber security and (F)OTA
updates. The two make an inseparable pair anyway:
There is no cyber security without OTA updates,
but there can also be no OTA update without cyber
security.
Some may consider this new level of, e.g., above 10
kDMIPS computing power per server in the vehicle a
luxury but think again: Today, each and every one of
the 50…100 ECUs has its own embedded periphery.
They all have a housing, they all have connectors, and
they all require thermal management, and they are all
cabled. However, quite a few of these ECUs will never
be active at the same time because their activity is
restricted to certain driving or operating conditions
that may be mutually exclusive. So, who’s wasting
now?
The features of the HPC create optimal conditions
for the integration of software from many sources.
As an example, Continental uses the HPC capabilities
for a strategic partnership with Pioneer. During the
development of a Cockpit HPC, a complete Pioneer
infotainment solution can be integrated into the
server, if an OEMs requests it.
Meanwhile, while the server-based approach offers
the chance for vehicle manufacturers to reduce
complexity with a leaner vehicle architecture, it
increases the complexity for Tier 1 suppliers. Manual
software development, for instance, is no longer an
answer to worldwide development with ever more
internal and external partners. To handle this complex
process efficiently and to ensure the quality of the
server and the software a new approach is required:
It takes a highly automated software factory and
a cooperation portal providing the security, tools,
automated testing and validation, and managing
documents for hundreds of software developers all
over the world, who are working on functions and
features. It is not only the E/E architecture that is
changing dramatically – beginning with the EV – it
is the complete automotive industry as information
technology and the car amalgamate.
Stefan Wagener
Product Manager Infotainment at Continental
e-mobility Technology International | www.e-motec.net
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