By 2027, over 73% of new vehicles shipped globally will feature embedded connectivity, according to ABI Research’s recent connected car report. This is increasing the complexity of automotive electronics systems, which now include a host of connected infotainment and navigation technologies, including multimedia streaming, Wi-Fi hotspots, and voice control/assistants.
One feature growing in popularity is voice control and voice assistants, said ABI Research, to help minimize driver distractions. The market researcher expects that virtually 100% of connected cars in North America and Europe will have voice control by 2023.
However, providing this connectivity will require partnerships between automakers, software providers, and component manufacturers to deliver secure embedded connectivity that is fully integrated and interoperable for a good user experience. This month’s issue covers automotive challenges around embedded connectivity, advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) and power systems, sensing technologies, and security.
There are challenges in embedded connectivity, said Maite Bezerra, research analyst at ABI Research. The implementation of these features increases hardware complexity, which poses challenges to the legacy architecture of vehicles. “Traditionally, each new vehicle functionality or application would be added into an individual electronic control unit [ECU] that would become a new component of the vehicle architecture,” she said. “The duplications of subsystems inside each ECU are not only costly but power-inefficient. Moreover, due to the various interconnections, upgrading individual ECUs is time-consuming and challenging, as a change in an ECU can affect another ECU.”
The result is a trend from discrete ECUs to an architecture that integrates the in-vehicle infotainment system, instrument cluster, heads-up display, rear-seat entertainment, and even ADAS ECUs, such as driver-monitoring systems, into a single digital cockpit domain, said Bezerra.
She believes “connectivity will become an essential car component due to regulations, cloud-based services, and software-defined vehicle architectures that rely on over-the-air updates.”
All this connectivity requires security. “Connected vehicles will inevitably communicate with outside entities, from other vehicles to smart-city infrastructure and to the cloud,” said Timo Van Roermund, automotive security team leader at NXP Semiconductors. “Robust security measures are essential to prevent attacks and protect the vehicle, its systems, and the back-end networks that serve them from cyberattacks.”
He said the latest automotive cybersecurity standard, ISO/SAE 21434, aims to provide connected vehicles with robust protection from malicious cyberattacks, requiring OEMs and their supply chains to apply a security-by-design approach to their components, servers, and processes to reduce the risk of cyberattacks at any point in a vehicle’s lifetime, from the initial concept and design phases to end of life.
With a shift to connected cars, there is also a lot of development around safety features including ADAS, driver-monitoring systems, surround view, traffic-jam assist, and automatic parking. These all require sensing technologies, including LiDAR, radar, and cameras, to help the car “see.” There has been a lot of innovation in both LiDAR and radar technologies that are improving the “eyes” of these ADAS systems.
At the same time, the automotive industry is moving toward electrification, and the automotive industry’s two-pronged quest for better fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions presents a number of technological problems for the sensor systems that support these platforms, as well as the battery management systems, said Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio, editor-in-chief of Power Electronics News. “EVs are benefiting from technological advancements, which are delivering lower prices while also providing the increased range efficiency that many consumers want,” he said.
But to enable EVs to charge faster, automotive power electronics designers need gallium nitride and silicon carbide devices, said Di Paolo Emilio, and a new powertrain architecture that can meet the EV’s efficiency and power density requirements.
This month’s issue also showcases LEDs and LED drivers for automotive applications. While a lot of the development focus is on smaller packaging, higher heat dissipation, greater power savings, and increased robustness, component manufacturers are also offering designers more options that are helping them simplify their designs.
For industrial and mil/aero designers, don’t miss the top 10 connectors introduced over the past year for high-reliability and demanding environments. These range from circular to rectangular connectors, which are also packed with more options that give designers greater flexibility in their designs.
Cover image: Shutterstock
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