Where intelligence goes

Changes in distributed or embedded control as well as processor power are altering automotive computing hierarchy.

The number of controllers in most cars continues to rise despite the efforts of engineers. They are striving to integrate functions into powerful, centralized CPUs (central processing units), but it is often more effective to use distributed architectures for flexibility and ease of adding new functions.

There are tradeoffs any time these computing architectures change. Moving to centralized 32-bit electronic control units saves cost and space, eliminating distributed ECUs (electronic control units). But engineers do not want to move totally to huge centralized ECUs that have large I/O counts and cause major headaches if they fail.