Electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture

Today’s incumbent automakers and suppliers have built their companies and reputations on mastering the internal combustion engine. However, electrification, connectivity and autonomous vehicle development necessitate an internal rejig.

Part of this rejig rests on a transition away from existing electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures. Today’s setups can see potentially hundreds of embedded control units (ECUs) scattered throughout the vehicle to help meet local computing demand. However, with vehicle data generation and access needs on the rise it is vital that ECU usage is stripped down to the bare minimum.

In their place will come a handful of high-performance computers (HPCs) placed strategically throughout the vehicle. This centralised approach will help streamline both hardware and software development and to enact critical future mobility functions including over-the-air updates.

Today’s industry leaders do not have long to make their transition, and many have already invested vast sums in preparing for a software-defined mobility future. But they must also keep an eye on the chasing pack. Technology giants in particular see the move away from mechanical nuance as an ideal opportunity to disrupt a potentially extremely profitable sector.

• Zonal E/E architectures the cornerstone of future mobility development
• Talent call: software-driven vehicles will spur hiring spree
• E/E architecture rejig could yield solid practical savings
• To enable software-defined vehicles, a new generation of E/E architectures is on the way
• Domain controllers can declutter autonomous vehicle architectures
• Centralised E/E architectures could unlock new opportunities to monetise vehicle data
• Software-defined mobility enacts profound change at VW Group

'Special report: Electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture’ presents insight from:

• Accenture
• Bosch
• Boston Consulting Group
• Continental
• Leoni
• Magna
• Microchip
• ZF