Connext 6 Addresses Critical Technology Needs to Accelerate Development of Complex Autonomous Systems

Real-Time Innovations (RTI), a provider of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions, recently released the latest version of the Connext product suite, Connext® 6, which includes groundbreaking interconnection software products designed to accelerate the development and deployment of highly autonomous systems. For autonomous vehicle development, this product provides the necessary advanced technology with sufficient capabilities to solve the complex data distribution challenges faced by Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous driving. Connext 6 is the only standards-based framework in the field of autonomous vehicles, providing full support from R&D to production.

The automotive industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, and the future direction will be autonomous, connected and shared. Automakers are already competing to develop highly autonomous or even fully autonomous vehicles, which requires fundamental changes to automotive computing architecture and software, and in the process will encounter technical challenges that traditional data communication methods cannot solve. Most specifically, it must be able to support artificial intelligence algorithms in the vehicle, smoothly and effectively receive large volumes of high-rate data from numerous sensors, while ensuring adaptability and safety. Vehicles are highly critical systems, and once connected to the Internet, they must have higher security, which requires compliance with readily available interconnection standards that span the entire automotive supply chain for easy and convenient system integration.

The Magic of RTI Connext 6

When RTI introduced the Connext product suite, it greatly accelerated the development of industrial IoT systems and brought a revolution to this field. This system complies with the Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard and provides a powerful, secure and scalable interconnect foundation. Now, this product has evolved into Connext 6, which supports autonomous system manufacturers to meet key technical challenges. The main features include: 1) the ability to effectively manage high-bandwidth sensor data; 2) easy integration with standardized interfaces; 3) optimized security. Because of the above three features, Connext 6 is ideal for safety-critical systems.

These new features are fully compatible and interoperable with RTI’s Connext product suite, including Connext DDS Secure and Connext DDS Professional for standard processors and microcontrollers, Connext DDS Micro for highly resource-constrained microcontrollers, and Connext DDS Cert for the most safety-critical applications.

High bandwidth data distribution

Highly autonomous systems face unprecedented challenges in processing and distributing large amounts of streaming data from LiDAR, high-definition cameras and radar sensors to a large number of destinations, while also analyzing and responding to this data in real time. Autonomous vehicle developers previously spent a lot of time developing their own data distribution solutions to meet these requirements. However, with Connext 6, developers can effectively distribute high-bandwidth sensor data to autonomous system applications, including sensing, perception, visualization, mapping and display.

To support large amounts of data, Connext 6 provides new mechanisms that optimize the sending and receiving of large amounts of sampled data. These enhancements significantly improve throughput and latency. For typical high-definition camera data, end-to-end latency can be reduced by 67% when distributing data over an Ethernet network. When two applications running on the same processor distribute data through shared memory, end-to-end latency can be reduced by 99%. Connext 6 enhancements continue the advantages of traditional Connext DDS, including support for data models to evolve over time while maintaining interoperability with deployed components, content-aware filtering and data introspection, and DDS-compatible network interoperability.

Integration with common platforms and frameworks

Complexity comes not only from technical challenges, but also from the automotive supply chain. Automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have to combine parts from Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, which often brings integration and security challenges. Connext 6 provides a data-centric, interoperable framework that supports OEMs and their suppliers to test all operating systems and processor families on nearly 100 different platforms. RTI's software also supports the application of the DDS standard in both the AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform and the Robotic Operating System (ROS2 robot operating system). The Connext databus integrates AUTOSAR Adaptive, ROS2 and native DDS components to optimize end-to-end data sharing, allowing developers to do little or no custom integration.

Security Certification

Certifying highly autonomous systems to meet stringent safety standards is a challenge that all automakers will eventually face, and it is extremely expensive and complex. RTI Connext DDS Micro has proven its efficiency in safety-critical environments, providing a shortcut for developers to quickly pass ISO 26262 ASIL-D certification, the automotive functional safety standard. With the capabilities provided by Connext 6, developers no longer need custom network code and accompanying certification artifacts, thus eliminating years of development and certification work and millions of dollars in costs. In addition, Connext 6 includes RTI Connext DDS Secure, the only security standard designed specifically for real-time control and autonomous applications. Using this technology, manufacturers can apply fine-grained, data-centric flow control on top of security policies such as access control and encryption.

“At RTI, we are experiencing rapid growth in the autonomous vehicle market. All major autonomous vehicle platform standards today use DDS, including AUTOSAR Adaptive and ROS2, so we have deep insight into the needs of highly autonomous systems,” said David Barnett, vice president of products and marketing at RTI. “We have taken this understanding and combined it with our high-performance, data-centric technology to develop Connext 6. It is the industry’s only interconnect framework designed specifically for the complexity of Level 4 and 5 autonomy. RTI is proud to help our customers advance the evolution of autonomous systems and design the interconnected systems of the future.”

“I believe the automotive industry is experiencing a second electronic revolution, the Internet of Vehicles,” said Karl Thomas Neumann, RTI Advisory Board Member. “From here, vehicles are becoming connected to the world – which requires new concepts, new technologies and new services. RTI is at the forefront of this innovation. With Connext 6, autonomous vehicle developers can address the industry’s toughest technical challenges and accelerate the development and adoption of their vehicles. RTI’s advanced technologies and real industry expertise are truly driving the future of the automobile.”