The automotive industry is currently facing challenges and changes on multiple levels. With the decoupling of hardware and software leading to a more and more software-defined vehicle, the E/E architecture will have to adapt. Not only the software-defined vehicle trend but also the autonomous driving trend among others introducing additional sensors and actuators will force new control architecture concepts. The exact configuration of future architecture remains unclear, but there is a strong trend towards reducing the number of electrical control units (ECUs) and towards a more centralized and zonal architecture.

This new architecture will consist of several zonal master controllers with more computing power and edge AI capabilities. In addition, high-performance computing (HPC) will be required for autonomous driving to ensure low-latency decisions for safe driving behavior. However, not only the controllers and HPC will be adaptable via over-the-air (OTA) software updates but also other hardware components connected like inverters or the battery management system. To enable OTA updates and supply the connected components with power, new power over dataline concepts will be necessary to provide both high power and fast data rates as well.

Vitesco Technologies is developing several hardware (e.g. zonal or master controller) and software components (e.g. AUTOSAR Adaptive with HyperVisor) to provide its customers with the products needed to successfully adapt its E/E architecture to future requirements.