Past, Present, and Future of Real-Time Embedded Automotive Software: A Close Look at Basic Concepts of AUTOSAR

Real-time embedded automotive software has traditionally been tightly coupled with the hardware on which it runs. In the automotive ecosystem, OEMs and their suppliers are involved in various aspects of developing embedded software. In some instances, suppliers provide the embedded software together with the hardware. In other instances, suppliers provide hardware and infrastructure software, while the OEM takes charge of developing the Application Layer. OEMs typically have the responsibility of integrating the software. Either model can derive value from a non ECU-centric approach to designing the application software, as such an approach allows OEMs to add new software components to existing software packages whenever necessary. The AUTOSAR initiative was created on the value proposition portable application software provides. As ECU development most often starts with legacy software, this paper presents the challenges and benefits of remapping an existing application to work under AUTOSAR.