According to S&P Global Mobility, the average age of cars and light trucks in the United States is now 12.6 years, and software obsolescence is a pressing challenge for Original Equipment Manufacturers. To stay competitive in the software-defined vehicle landscape, OEMs must ensure their vehicles are future-proof; this means designing telematics control units (TCUs) that easily upgrade from 4G to 5G and incorporate satellite communications for high-bandwidth, low-latency connections.
Over-the-Air (OTA) updates are vital, allowing seamless software upgrades across electronic control units (ECUs) without service visits. Integrating edge computing enables rapid local data processing, crucial for safety-critical situations like pedestrian interactions, while offloading non-critical tasks to the cloud.
AI further boosts vehicle safety by assessing driver cognitive load through biometric data and offering personalized interventions to reduce distractions.
Cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communication enhances vehicle capabilities by facilitating communication between vehicles and infrastructure. C-V2X outperforms dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) in range and scalability, making it the preferred choice for future applications. This technology not only improves safety with timely hazard alerts but also streamlines traffic management.
As the automotive industry evolves, OEMs must prioritize technologies that keep vehicles relevant. By focusing on compatibility, edge computing, user-centric design and robust security, manufacturers can tackle the challenges of software obsolescence effectively. For more insights, we spoke to Dhanaji Khade, vice president, Ready Connect Business at Harman.
Key takeaways:
- Compatibility and upgradability: Manufacturers should prioritize TCUs that easily upgrade from 4G to 5G and incorporate satellite communications. This guarantees high-bandwidth, low-latency connections essential for real-time data exchange, meeting the demands of autonomous driving and consumer expectations.
- Edge computing integration: Integrating edge computing is paramount for rapid local data processing, especially in safety-critical scenarios. It enables swift responses to urgent events like pedestrian interactions, while non-critical tasks can be offloaded to the cloud, optimizing the vehicle's resource usage.
- Customer-centric design: To unlock the full potential of connected mobility, manufacturers should focus on user-friendly interfaces for advanced features. By simplifying complex systems, consumers can easily understand and use these technologies, driving greater adoption and satisfaction.
- Robust security measures: As software complexity in connected vehicles grows, robust security protocols for OTA updates are essential. Manufacturers should implement advanced cybersecurity strategies and adhere to established standards to safeguard against vulnerabilities and boost the reliability of connected vehicle systems.
The following is an edited transcript of the conversation.
S&P Global Mobility: What key technological attributes should manufacturers prioritize to ensure that connected vehicles are future-proof, particularly in the context of evolving autonomous driving capabilities and consumer demand for enhanced connectivity?
Automotive connectivity is a fast-paced area of development and growth. To keep pace, manufacturers should prioritize connectivity products that support industry and technology evolution across different tech generations, such as TCUs that are compatible and capable of upgrading from 4G to 5G, and also to satellite communications, to ensure high-bandwidth, low-latency communication and real-time data exchange.
Harman has developed various TCUs, including the first standalone TCU in 2009 and a 5G-capable product in 2021. In 2025, satellite communications will be integrated into a TCU. Harman's TCUs are available in over 120 countries, and the Ready Connect suite offers modular and upgradable options for OEMs, aiming to simplify processes and lower costs.
The integration of edge computing capabilities is also crucial for faster processing of data locally, particularly in safety critical and time sensitive situations, such as vehicle and pedestrian traffic interaction. It also allows non-critical workloads to be offloaded from a vehicle into the local cloud or edge zone, freeing up valuable resources as other applications are added to the vehicle.
Becoming customer-centric is also important for OEMs to unlock the true value of connected mobility and its future capability. Customers may choose to not utilize advanced features within their vehicles if they are too complex, so OEMs must give great consideration to making them easy to understand and operate to encourage usage and proliferation.
What are the best practices in the automotive industry for implementing OTA software update protocols, and how do these practices enhance security and reliability?
OTA plays a critical role for the software defined vehicle, and it enables software updates seamlessly for almost all ECUs in the vehicle, including TCUs, digital cockpits, BCMs [body control modules] and for other vehicle function ECUs. As software is now becoming increasingly complex, OTA updates play a crucial role to avoid vehicle recalls and hence saves costs for OEMs.
Harman's Ready Connect 5G TCU allows for OTA upgrades of its firmware and other in-vehicle ECUs using the Harman OTA solution. This approach focuses on creating secure and adaptable systems to address emerging threats. Collaborating across the industry and following cybersecurity standards are critical for improving the cybersecurity of connected vehicles and encouraging the adoption of secure communication.
How is AI being leveraged across the automotive industry to enhance predictive analytics for safety features, and what implications does this have for vehicle performance in diverse driving conditions?
AI has the potential to improve the safety and wellbeing of drivers and passengers. Such use cases are vast and include orchestrating where information is displayed inside the vehicle to keep a driver’s eyes and mind on the road ahead; supporting conversational language recognition; personalized interventions to mitigate distraction, stress and drowsiness plus the recommendation of optimal routes.
For example, Harman Ready Care leverages AI and neuroscience to assess driver cognitive load through biometric data, enabling personalized interventions for distractions and stress. The Stress-free Routing feature offers alternative routes based on real-time conditions. Additionally, Harman's Ready Aware enhances situational awareness using vehicle-to-network (V2N) technology, alerting drivers about nearby hazards. Together, these innovations improve vehicle performance and functionality across driving, entertainment and operational aspects.
What are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of C-V2X communication over DSRC in terms of latency, range and integration with existing infrastructure, and how do you anticipate this to affect market dynamics?
C-V2X has a larger range compared with DSRC by leveraging on cellular 5G networks, which improves coverage in a very dense urban network. C-V2X technology is based on cellular technology, which is the future of connectivity, thereby offering greater scalability and providing several new applications. Potentially, C-V2X can manage larger volumes of data when compared with DSRC.
Considering the demand from OEMs for 5G TCUs, C-V2X seems to be the preferred choice since the same 5G radio can also support the C-V2X (sidelink) radio, which simplifies the deployment. Also, from a spectrum perspective, the US and mainland China have decided to adopt C-V2X as the technology for V2X. India is also moving in the same direction. Europe has still not decided, but the overwhelming choice is in favor of C-V2X as the radio technology of choice for V2X communication.
How does the addition of satellite communication contribute to future-proofing connected vehicles, especially in the context of evolving consumer demands and technological advancements?
By 2030, consumers will expect to have access to SatCom services in remote areas. Across the consumer and automotive industries, we are seeing positive trends and a move toward SatCom standardization that will positively influence economies of scale in the coming years.
Traditionally, mobile SatCom services required dedicated devices that were bulky and expensive, but now they are available in some mobile phones by global manufacturers such as Apple, Google and Samsung. We are seeing a similar transition in the automotive segment. Traditionally, specialized and commercial vehicle OEMs have used a dedicated add-on device to support proprietary SatCom services in their vehicles. With SatCom capability now in mobile phones, standardization of SatCom protocols at 3GPP, and other technology and commercial advancements driven by low-cost satellite launch platforms, passenger vehicle OEMs are actively evaluating SatCom to enhance the vehicle user experience. Those OEMs are having active discussions at trade associations such as 5GAA, evaluating the technology in PoC (proof of concept) activities and requesting the SatCom feature for their future vehicles.
How do you foresee V2X technology transforming the driving experience in terms of safety, convenience and environmental impact, particularly in urban settings?
V2X technology has the potential to make the driving experience safer through applications such as speed compliance, vulnerable road user, emergency services and construction zone safety alerts. It will improve convenience by making experiences smarter through fleet management tools, vehicle diagnostics and will help deliver smarter in-cabin experiences. It will make driving more sustainable through route and EV optimization, as well as traffic light information, such as time to green- and red-light assist.
As C-V2X technology becomes more prevalent, what specific low-loss materials do you anticipate will be critical for the development of 5G components in connected vehicles, and why?
Since the V2X antenna needs to be installed on the front windshield glass and another one needs to be on the rear side (this could be inside the shark fin, or Harman’s conformal TCU design with integrated C-V2X antenna), the distance between the TCU and V2X antenna need the low power loss RF cable in the vehicle to minimize the loss.
To compensate for this power loss and provide best V2X coverage, some OEMs are coming out with a power compensator inside the V2X antenna to boost the transmission power and received signal power.
What do you consider the primary technical and logistical challenges that manufacturers will face in implementing V2X technology in connected vehicles, and how can these challenges be effectively addressed?
One of the key technical challenges manufacturers will face in implementing V2X solutions is the need for a separate radio (DSRC/C-V2X) to transmit and receive OTA safety messages. The TCU is typically used to add this capability along with the long-range cellular connectivity (5G) it already supports. Another technical challenge is the compute power needed in the TCU to process V2X safety messages from all vehicles in the vicinity.
In addition to these challenges, given the collaborative nature of the V2X technology, this limits large-scale deployment of the solution, especially since older devices require after-market fitments to support the technology. There is also a need for road-side units (RSUs) for vehicles to communicate with the infrastructure (traffic signals) for DSRC.
Many companies, including Harman, are adopting an alternative approach by offering V2X services through standard 5G cellular connectivity. This strategy lowers variable costs associated with the TCU by utilizing cloud computing for most processing tasks. As a result, a lightweight software client can be implemented on the TCU/IVI, which reduces Dhrystone Million Instructions Per Second (DMIPS) significantly. Additionally, using a virtual RSU removes the requirement for physical infrastructure.
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