How regional architecture design trends improve automotive communications

Electronics are continually improving the way we interact with our cars. We have come a long way since integrated navigation or hands-free calling are no longer exciting new features.

Today’s cars are packed with innovative technology and use hundreds of semiconductors to make them smarter, more electrified, and safer. From air-conditioned seats to custom lighting effects, semiconductor chips improve comfort and, in some vehicles, support these features through multiple touchscreens or smartphone apps.

Now is the era of software-defined vehicles, which is also a major trend in the automotive market, allowing automakers to improve service levels, personalization and convenience.

Of course, safety remains paramount, with nearly 93% of new cars having at least one advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) feature[1]. It is estimated that ADAS could prevent up to 1.6 million crashes (per year) and $36.7 billion in damages[2]. These numbers would not be possible without the advances semiconductors have brought to automotive in terms of ADAS and connectivity.

Leverage TI connectivity technologies to enable fast, accurate and reliable vehicle networking.

Regional architecture is another trend in the automotive space that helps enable software-defined vehicles. Compared to domain architecture, which groups electronic control units (ECUs) according to their function in the vehicle, regional architecture groups them according to their location in the vehicle. These location-based ECUs (also called regional control modules) leverage existing and new network interfaces and are designed to centralize the vehicle's hardware and software architecture.

"TI is well-positioned to address all of the major communications needs resulting from the architectural shift in the automotive industry," said Tsedeniya Abraham, vice president of TI's interface business unit. "We can help designers manage and simplify the mix of data types required by regional architectures."

Leveraging protocols to reduce wiring

As the number of sensors and actuators in a vehicle increases, so does the amount of data that needs to be transmitted within the vehicle. Each ECU needs to communicate with sensors, actuators, and other ECUs to accurately perform motion and safety functions. In the past, this required many cumbersome wiring cables to transmit power and data throughout the vehicle.

Fortunately, zonal architectures reduce wiring, weight, and cost to better optimize software-defined vehicles. Common communication protocols such as Ethernet, Controller Area Network (CAN), and Local Interconnect Network (LIN) remain critical to organizing the growing volumes of data.

For example, ultra-high-speed and ultra-low-latency safety-critical communications can be achieved over Ethernet to avoid accidents. Protocols such as CAN or LIN are cost-effective and well suited for other lower-bandwidth connections such as window lifts, seat temperature control or power steering.

“Ethernet is ideal for high-speed data transmission between zone control modules, while CAN or LIN are efficient and fast choices for last-mile communication within each zone,” said Tsedeniya.

The FPD-Link™ protocol meets demanding video transmission requirements by delivering 13.5Gbps over a single cable. This is more than enough for high-resolution pillar-to-pillar displays in vehicles.

When it comes to safety, TI’s FPD-Link serializer/deserializer (SerDes) is fast enough to transmit uncompressed camera data, a key advantage as vehicles incorporate more ADAS features.

Uncompressed data is critical to reducing visual artifacts that would otherwise interfere with the system’s ability to process and react to images. FPD-Link is also bidirectional, so the system can still control the camera even while receiving images.

Looking ahead

Given the need to integrate a variety of protocols, manufacturers are turning to our company’s broad portfolio of automotive communications devices to address the shift to regional architectures.

Wireless technology is equally exciting. “Some consumers will be able to get new performance or convenience features or even comply with recall regulations through over-the-air updates without having to take their car to a repair shop,” said Fern Yoon, director of automotive systems engineering and marketing at Texas Instruments.

With a regional architecture that supports the vision of software-defined vehicles, automakers are redefining the next phase of driver personalization, safety, and convenience.

“TI will continue to invest to address today’s and tomorrow’s automotive architecture trends,” Tsedeniya said.

References:

[1] AAA. January 2019. “ADVANCED DRIVER ASSISTANCE TECHNOLOGY NAMES.” Accessed March 25, 2024.

[2] Khana, Abdullah, Corey D. Harper, Chris T. Hendrick, Constantine Samaras. Net-societal and net-private benefits of some existing vehicle crash avoidance technologies. Published in Accident Analysis & Prevention 125 (April 2019): pp. 207-216.