ZF builds ‘middleware’ to address vehicle software escalation

Acknowledging the emergence of the “software-defined” vehicle, Tier-1 supplier ZF announced that it is in the process of developing a “middleware” platform designed to facilitate communication between a typical new vehicle's ballooning number of software-controlled components and systems. Company engineers and executives said the first vehicles leveraging the new middleware will be on the road in 2024, but the platform is being created because the industry has to grasp “what the car will look like in the 2030s,” said Dirk Walliser, senior vice president - corporate R&D, Innovation & Technology for ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

“And by the way, it's being utilized not only for passenger cars, but mostly already in commercial vehicles,” Walliser said. “There we have special operating situations. We have hub-to-hub operation, for example, we have geo-fenced areas, smart plants [and] harbors, for example, where these new functions are already needed. And without that middleware, we couldn't handle the complexity.”