Arm launches new technology to revolutionize automotive software-defined future

On September 15, British chip developer Arm announced that by collaborating with leading companies across the automotive supply chain, it will provide new software architecture and reference implementations, the Scalable Open Architecture for Embedded Edge (SOAFEE), and two new reference hardware platforms to accelerate the software-defined future of automobiles.

As vehicle architecture and functionality evolve, today's automotive developers face numerous challenges, such as delivering advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI), electrified powertrains, and the increasing code complexity required for autonomous driving. To meet changing consumer demands, computing must be more centralized, so software is becoming increasingly important. The resulting changes in the way software is developed, deployed, and managed mean that cloud-native development is more suitable for automotive development than ever before. Cloud-native development has received widespread attention for reducing cost, time, and complexity across the cloud infrastructure industry.

(Image source: Arm)

However, in order to quickly and seamlessly meet the software-defined needs of today's cars, a standardized framework is necessary to enhance proven cloud-native technologies to work at scale with the real-time and safety features required for automotive applications. The same framework can also benefit other real-time and safety-critical use cases, such as robotics and industrial automation.

“The automotive industry is at a critical inflection point and the supply chain, from IP design to car manufacturers, is being re-examined and redefined,” said Chet Babla, vice president of Arm’s automotive and IoT line of business. “The industry has asked Arm and its ecosystem to accelerate the vision of a software-defined future. With Arm’s unique position in the supply chain, we are leading the collaborative effort to deliver the standards, software, developer resources and specialized processing platforms to meet the safety and real-time needs of automotive applications.”

Providing a roadmap for success

SOAFEE is the result of a concerted effort by automakers, system integrators, semiconductor, software and cloud technology leaders to define a new open standards-based architecture for software-defined vehicles. In addition, the SOAFEE reference instance, an execution of the architecture defined by a Special Interest Group (SIG) of these leaders, will be available as free open source software, designed to support broad prototyping, workload exploration and early development. Arm is working with leading commercial solution providers to maximize compatibility and enable a faster path to functional safety design.

Building on the success of Project Cassini and Arm’s SystemReady, which enabled a standards-based cloud native system at the edge, SOAFEE is committed to implementing cloud concepts such as container orchestration with automotive functional safety and real-time performance, an industry first.

Start critical development time

Development timelines for new automotive applications need to be as fast and seamless as possible. With the immediate availability of SOAFEE, cloud-based developers can apply their expertise and contribute to the future of mobility built on Arm technology.

“Major technology leaps are changing automotive electronics and software architecture requirements and driving the industry toward a software-centric future,” said Bill Foy, director of worldwide automotive business development at AWS. “At AWS, we are committed to innovating with key industry players like Arm to address the complex challenges of delivering software-defined vehicles with a service-oriented architecture. By collaborating with Arm and AWS on the Arm-based AWS Graviton2 instances, we can deliver significant cost savings and make it possible to run applications on the same architecture in the cloud and at the automotive edge to simplify developer workflows.”

Arm has partnered with ADLink to deliver unrestricted performance on a new SystemReady-compatible development platform to help accelerate time to market. Powered by Arm’s Neoverse-based Ampere Altra cores, the platform will allow workload exploration and development on Arm-based chips using the SOAFEE reference software stack for applications such as cockpits, ADAS, powertrains, and autonomous driving. The development platform, which consists of a developer workstation and a rugged vehicle-mounted product, is expected to be generally available in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The AVA developer platform is a high-performance 32-core scalable computing system built for lab-based development and capable of running autonomous workloads. It allows developers to leverage accelerator hardware to complement the high-performance central processing unit (CPU).

For in-vehicle prototyping and testing, the high-performance AVA-AP1 features 80 cores for increased CPU performance, additional input/output (IO) capabilities, and includes a security processor to enable in-vehicle execution using real sensors.

Leading the software-defined revolution with support from industry leaders

“Software-defined cars are here much sooner than expected and the required infrastructure is being developed, but the industry faces several macro challenges,” said Riclef Schmidt-Clausen, Senior Vice President and Head of Intelligent Cockpit and Body at CARIAD, a Volkswagen Group company. “These include enabling software portability across various hardware platforms and building a cloud-native software infrastructure to ensure that applications developed in the cloud are seamlessly deployed to heterogeneous edge platforms. As pioneers of this new development, CARIAD and Arm are working closely together to address key technical challenges and build a solid foundation for a software-defined future.”

In many fields, software-defined functions will continue to develop, and the combined solution of SOAFEE and the new development platform will be applicable to other fields, including robotics in medicine, manufacturing and logistics. For automobiles, software-defined functions will meet consumers' demand for safety, new in-vehicle experience and functions. More importantly, this function will also open up new revenue sources for automakers, Tier 1 suppliers, software suppliers and cloud service providers, and enable more customers to participate.