SDVs Require Support from Semiconductor Partners

by Laura R
SDVs Require Support from Semiconductor Partners

The era of automakers focusing primarily on hardware-centric vehicle design is over. In today’s market, hardware features can quickly become outdated, often feeling underwhelming to modern consumers as they lose relevance over time. The rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) marks a new era in the automotive industry, offering Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) the ability to enhance vehicle capabilities through over-the-air (OTA) updates. This shift allows automakers to introduce new features and improve the driving experience long after a vehicle has left the showroom, leading to increased customer satisfaction and sustainable, long-term revenue growth.

To successfully transition to SDV architecture, automakers must prioritize flexibility, upgradeability, and customizability. However, many OEMs lack the in-house software expertise needed to navigate this shift. As such, developing strong partnerships with semiconductor companies is essential. These collaborations help integrate critical enabling technologies, including embedded compute, middleware, hypervisors, applications, developer toolchains, and cloud infrastructure—ensuring a seamless transition to a future driven by software innovation.

Addressing SDV computing needs

Compute power is the cornerstone of any software application, and in the context of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) must carefully consider the capabilities of their silicon partners.

The primary consideration is that SDVs require significantly more embedded computing resources than are necessary at the time of purchase. The goal of SDV design is to future-proof the vehicle, ensuring that a broad array of automotive applications can be smoothly integrated and run over time. This ability to continuously update and enhance the vehicle will open new revenue streams that traditional, hardware-dependent vehicles could never achieve. Consequently, semiconductor partners must provide ample excess compute capacity—ideally 30% to 50% more than the initial requirements—ensuring seamless, hassle-free over-the-air (OTA) updates.

Equally important is adopting a heterogeneous approach to the SDV platform. OEMs should partner with semiconductor companies that offer a diverse portfolio of intellectual property (IP), including central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), and neural network accelerators. A strong and varied IP portfolio enables better support for future SDV applications and provides the flexibility to meet evolving consumer demands for increasingly sophisticated automotive electronics.

The role of embedded AI is also crucial to the SDV landscape. While cloud-based AI can handle functions that are less time-sensitive, mission-critical applications—such as autonomous vehicle perception, sensor fusion, and motion planning—demand the reliability of embedded AI. Offloading these functions to the cloud would introduce unacceptable latencies, potentially compromising safety. A hybrid approach that leverages both embedded AI for real-time, low-latency needs and cloud AI for scalability and flexibility represents the optimal solution for SDV platforms.

Middleware and hypervisors provide much-needed abstraction.

Middleware acts as a vital abstraction layer within the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) platform, bridging the gap between hardware and consumer-facing applications. It fosters seamless integration between hardware and software development, which is essential for cultivating a software-driven design culture and enhancing collaboration across multiple partners.

Traditionally, the automotive industry has relied on adding an individual electronic control unit (ECU) for each new feature, resulting in increasingly complex and costly vehicle systems. As the industry shifts toward software-defined architectures, automakers now have the opportunity to streamline these systems by consolidating controllers. By using fewer, more powerful controllers, they can achieve a more cost-effective and space-efficient design, reducing the need for multiple ECUs within the SDV platform.

At the same time, ensuring safety remains a top priority. Critical safety functions must be isolated from non-critical applications to maintain the integrity of the vehicle’s safety systems. Technologies like hypervisors help achieve this by enabling shared resources while preserving safety standards. A hypervisor dynamically allocates compute resources to different domains based on demand and safety priorities, allowing automakers to reduce costs, improve resource utilization, and create lighter, more efficient vehicle models.

May you also like it:

Economical 32-Bit-General-Purpose-Microcontroller

MCUs target secure IoT endpoint and edge designs

Renesas Introduces Industry’s First General-Purpose 32-bit RISC-V MCUs with Internally Developed CPU Core

Renesas Rolls Out MCUs Aimed at Appliances and Building Automation

Bringing novel SDV applications to market quickly

To fully capitalize on the lucrative opportunities offered by Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), automakers must be able to develop and integrate new applications quickly and efficiently. When selecting semiconductor partners, OEMs should prioritize those offering an extensive library of automotive applications that can be easily customized. For instance, an OEM should be able to rapidly tailor an application to fit its unique branding. Given that resources are often limited, streamlining app development and integration is crucial, enabling automakers to focus more on creating innovative, distinct SDV features and less on routine applications.

The speed at which new automotive applications can be brought to market is further enhanced by the use of robust software toolchains. These tools allow manufacturers to develop, test, and validate SDV applications in a timely and efficient manner, ensuring a faster turnaround from concept to deployment.

Finally, Software Development Kits (SDKs) play a pivotal role in the SDV design process. SDKs simplify the integration of third-party applications into internally developed features, reducing the complexity of application development. Additionally, they help prevent the depletion of engineering resources, enabling automakers to allocate their efforts more effectively when building new applications.

Fostering SDV innovation with the cloud

Building an SDV platform on the cloud is essential for future-proofing automotive strategies. A cloud-based SDV layer enables automakers to manage fleets of connected vehicles efficiently and scale software applications throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle.

Key SDV applications built on the cloud platform layer include:

Fleet Management: Automakers can oversee their fleet of connected, software-defined vehicles by monitoring security events and applying updates with minimal user disruption.

Over-the-Air (OTA) Updates: Cloud-based platforms facilitate OTA updates, ensuring that they can be delivered even in low-connectivity or low-battery situations.

SDV Data Collection: The cloud enables the collection of data from SDVs, which can be leveraged to develop new services and revenue streams, such as real-time updates to digital maps based on actual driving conditions.

Digital Twin Prototyping: Digital twins, hosted in the cloud, play a crucial role in advancing SDV innovation. These virtual models enhance collaboration with suppliers and accelerate the development and testing of new features within a simulated environment.

Choose your silicon partner wisely.

The automotive market today is radically different from the hardware-defined industry of the past. In earlier years, automakers primarily focused on selling as many vehicles as possible, hoping that customers would return when it was time for a new purchase. While vehicle sales remain essential, the emphasis has now shifted to the post-sales experience. In this new landscape, brand differentiation will increasingly depend on the over-the-air (OTA) software updates that customers receive throughout the life cycle of their vehicles.

High-quality silicon is a critical factor in capitalizing on the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) opportunity. Semiconductor suppliers play a key role in helping automakers create groundbreaking driving experiences, enabling fresh post-sales revenue streams. The automotive industry finds itself at a pivotal moment, necessitating a shift in both vehicle design philosophy and business models. To successfully navigate this transition to SDVs, automotive OEMs must carefully choose a semiconductor partner that can support the entire stack of enabling technologies outlined in this article.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are semiconductor partners crucial for Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs)?

Semiconductor partners provide the necessary hardware and technology stack to enable SDVs, supporting critical components such as embedded computing, middleware, AI, and over-the-air (OTA) updates. As SDVs depend heavily on software for features and updates throughout the vehicle’s life cycle, strong semiconductor partnerships are essential for seamless integration and future-proofing.

How do SDVs differ from traditional vehicles?

Unlike traditional vehicles, which are primarily hardware-defined and rely on physical components for functionality, SDVs leverage software to control and enhance vehicle systems. This enables automakers to offer continuous updates, improve features over time, and create a personalized driving experience, all of which require robust support from semiconductor partners.

What role do semiconductor partners play in SDV innovation?

Semiconductor suppliers are pivotal in enabling the hardware needed to support SDV applications. They provide powerful computing platforms, AI acceleration, connectivity, and the necessary infrastructure to handle OTA updates and cloud-based services. Their expertise ensures that SDVs are equipped with the processing power and flexibility to support new features and adapt to evolving consumer needs.

How do semiconductor partners enable OTA updates?

Semiconductor partners offer the hardware and software architecture that allows for OTA updates to be sent to SDVs over the air. This includes ensuring sufficient embedded computing resources, providing secure communications, and facilitating updates even in low-connectivity or low-battery situations.

What is the importance of AI in SDVs, and how do semiconductor partners support this?

AI plays a key role in SDVs, particularly for mission-critical functions like autonomous driving, sensor fusion, and real-time data processing. Semiconductor partners enable embedded AI through specialized hardware such as neural network accelerators, which are essential for processing vast amounts of data on the vehicle itself with minimal latency. This reduces the reliance on cloud processing, ensuring faster and safer decision-making for autonomous features.

What is the role of cloud technology in SDVs, and how do semiconductor partners contribute?

Cloud technology is vital for managing connected fleets, providing real-time updates, and collecting data from SDVs to develop new services. Semiconductor partners support cloud integration by providing the necessary computing power and secure data transfer capabilities that enable seamless communication between the vehicle and the cloud.

How do semiconductor partners help with SDV scalability?

To ensure that SDVs can scale over time, semiconductor partners offer platforms with built-in flexibility and additional computing capacity. This allows automakers to adapt and integrate new features, update software, and enhance vehicle performance as consumer demands evolve, all while maintaining system reliability and performance.

Why is controller consolidation essential in SDVs, and how do semiconductor partners help?

Controller consolidation is essential for reducing cost and space in SDVs. Semiconductor partners support this by providing powerful, integrated controllers that can handle multiple vehicle functions, replacing the need for separate electronic control units (ECUs) for each feature. This simplifies vehicle architecture, reduces weight, and enhances overall system efficiency.

Conclusion

The transition to Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) represents a fundamental shift in the automotive industry, where software plays a central role in shaping the driving experience and creating new business opportunities. However, this transformation cannot be achieved without the support of strong semiconductor partners. These partners provide the essential hardware and technologies—ranging from embedded computing and AI acceleration to secure cloud integration and OTA update capabilities—that enable SDVs to deliver continuous innovation, scalability, and safety. As automakers look to future-proof their vehicle architectures, selecting the right semiconductor partner will be critical to unlocking the full potential of SDVs, ensuring long-term success in an increasingly software-driven automotive landscape.

Related Posts

Leave a Comment