More from the article...
... One of the more interesting paradigm shifts underway in the automotive industry is the move to software-defined vehicles. Cars have increasingly been controlled by electronic systems during the past few decades, but it's been piecemeal. Each added new function, like traction control, antilock braking, or a screen instead of physical gauges, required its own little black box added to the wiring loom.
There can now be more than 200 discrete controllers in a modern vehicle, all talking to each other through a CAN bus network. The idea behind the software-defined vehicle is to take a clean-sheet approach. Instead, you'll find a small number of domain controllers"what the automotive industry is choosing to call "high performance compute" platforms"each responsible for a different set of activities.
Typically, there will be four domain controllers. One will handle vehicle dynamics and handling"control of the powertrain, ABS, traction and stability control systems, and so on. Another will be responsible for driver-assistance systems, managing the radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors, processing their data, and controlling partially or fully automated driving systems. A third is dedicated to the infotainment, and a fourth might control the car's convenience features like the climate or lighting. There also may be a fifth central controller overseeing everything.
You should expect to see this approach more often as automakers develop new platforms, and there are already examples from Audi, BMW, McLaren, and Porsche on the road or arriving shortly.
Obviously, some domains are more safety-critical than others. It can be inconvenient if the infotainment system crashes while you're driving, but it won't be a safety issue. But if the vehicle dynamics controller crashes, it's obviously a lot more serious.
That's why SDVs need to use safety-critical operating systems carrying the ISO 26262 ASIL certification where necessary. With Elektrobit's EB corbos Linux for Safety Applications (that sure is a long name), there's an open source Linux distro that finally fits the bill, having just been given the thumbs up by the German organization T"V Nord. (It also complies with the IEC 61508 standard for safety applications.) ...
