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Cars these days are much different from the cars of the 1990s or 1950s. With model updates and new models, we’re often looking at new, better batteries; new infotainment software; and new ADAS. So much of it is really about the software now. With that in mind, Panasonic is looking to take the next step forward and “standardize software-defined vehicles” along with partner Arm. Or, put another way, they want to standardize automotive architecture for Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs).
“The two organizations share a common vision for creating a software stack with the flexibility to meet the current and future needs for automotive and have aligned on this through their active participation in SOAFEE (https://www.soafee.io/)*1, an industry-wide initiative that is driving greater collaboration in standardized software development across the automotive market. This new partnership will see PAS and Arm adopt and extend the device virtualization framework VirtIO to decouple automotive software development from hardware and accelerate automotive industry development cycles.”
Not being a software engineer or automotive engineer, I am not sure that I fully understand that, but I think I get the point and assume you do too. They want to create automotive software that can be used across models and even vehicle classes no matter what the automotive hardware is.
I do feel a little skeptical or unsure about this. We’ve seen from various automakers — especially ones leading in this new “smart electric vehicle” era, like Tesla, BYD, NIO, XPeng, Zeekr, etc. — that advancing hardware is a big part of advancing the software, efficiency, fit-for-purpose cost effectiveness, and so on. How can an automotive software be standardized efficiently across all different models, brands, and hardware?
On the other hand, maybe there could be great efficiencies here from economies of scale and standardization. Maybe this is exactly what most automakers need.
Panasonic goes on: “The automotive industry increasingly consolidated Electronic Control Units (ECUs) into a single powerful ECU such as Cockpit Domain Controller (CDC) or High-Performance Computer (HPC). This has made hypervisors and advanced chipsets more important than ever. However, many automakers and tier-1 suppliers are challenged by vendor-specific proprietary interfaces, which leads to increased costs and delivery time when transitioning from one vendor solution to another.
“PAS and Arm recognize the need to shift from a hardware-centric to a software-first development model to address these challenges. By standardizing the interfaces between automaker and tier-1 supplier software stacks and the underlying hypervisors and chipsets these run on, it is easier for automotive partners to adopt the latest generations of technology optimized for their needs and use cases.”
Well, that does sound convincing, doesn’t it? I immediately think of Volkswagen Group and its struggles with Cariad and developing its own software. I also look at what GM, Ford, and other legacy automakers have created. Perhaps this standardized, unified approach makes all the difference for legacy automakers.
The remainder of the news release gets much more detailed and jargony. You can read that below, but the general question I’ll leave for you — do you think this is the way forward for legacy auto?
This new partnership will involve several key initiatives:
1. Utilizing VirtIO-based Unified HMI to standardize zonal architecture
PAS and Arm are leveraging VirtIO not only for virtualizing devices connected to the central ECU like CDC/HPC, but also for remote devices linked to zonal ECUs. The two organizations have demonstrated a groundbreaking proof-of-concept using PAS’s open-source remote GPU technology, Unified HMI, to implement a Display Zonal Architecture built on Arm. This architecture distributes GPU loads from the central ECU to multiple zonal ECUs, reducing heat generation and harness weight without altering applications running on the central ECU. The flexible partitioning in the Mali™-G78AE GPU of Zonal ECUs allocates dedicated hardware resources to different workloads, enabling deterministic graphics performance in a Display Zonal Architecture. PAS and Arm are collaborating to provide a SOAFEE Blueprint and reference implementation of this work, aiming to standardize emerging zonal architectures in the automotive industry.
2. Ensuring environmental parity from cloud to car
PAS’s vSkipGen™ operates on Arm® Neoverse™-based cloud servers. By maintaining the same Arm CPU architecture and VirtIO device virtualization framework, this initiative will ensure full environmental parity between cloud virtual hardware and automotive hardware. PAS and Arm will collaborate to implement VirtIO in virtual hardware, further bridging the gap between virtual and physical automotive systems.
3. Expanding VirtIO Standardization
Currently focused on cockpit use cases like Android Automotive™ and Automotive Grade Linux™, PAS and Arm aim to broaden the VirtIO standards to encompass more automotive applications. This includes standardizing interfaces for Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) to decouple Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) software from hardware dependencies.
Masashige Mizuyama, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of PAS stated “Our partnership with Arm aims to promote the standardization of VirtIO and bring this industry reference standard to the next level. By combining the expertise and industry leadership of our organizations, we are confident that this collaboration will unlock software potential and serve as a crucial foundation for building the future of automotive technology towards SDV.”
Dipti Vachani, senior vice president and general manager, Automotive Line of Business at Arm, commented “SDVs continue to be one of the most exciting opportunities for automakers today, but realizing this vision demands innovative approaches that allow software developers to begin their work before physical silicon is available. Our partnership with PAS stems from both organizations’ active participation in SOAFEE, and builds on a shared goal to reduce fragmentation in the industry through standardization, which will ultimately accelerate automotive development cycles for our partners.”
Notes:
*1: SOAFEE (Scalable Open Architecture For the Embedded Edge) is an initiative bringing the automotive and software industries together to make the AI-enabled software-defined vehicle a reality: http://www.soafee.io/
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