The Requirements of Future In-Vehicle Networks and an Example Implementation

Electronics is driving 90% of the functional innovation in vehicles which is generating a demand for more (single function) control units to realise the new feature content. Adding such extra ECU's cannot be supported without limit due to packaging space on the vehicle and the significant increase in electrical system complexity. Also, the need for functional integration (between ECU's) is necessary to satisfy key market trends for improved vehicle safety and drive-by-wire capability. This need would not be met by lots of single function ECU's which is leading to a demand for new in-vehicle network architectures. At the same time, the OEM's are looking to define the vehicle “brand image” through advanced software applications which need to be integrated with supplier software within multiple ECU's.

This paper describes the impact on vehicle electrical networks of the multiplying ECU problem (driven by the multiple sensor and vehicle control system technologies) and describes possible system architectures to support the increasing demand for functional integration. An approach to support the evaluation of network architectures shall be illustrated using the development of a prototype network vehicle controller that provides a high performance microprocessor (>500MIPs) and high speed network interfaces.