Autonomous driving is evolving more than just the functionality of modern vehicles: it is shaking up the very foundation of a car’s electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture. For the vehicle to assess its surroundings and react in a safe, predictable and reliable manner, new technologies are being brought on board. That has created a whole new world of complexity.
The building blocks of an E/E architecture are not immediately obvious, but essentially boil down to hardware, physical wiring, network communications and software applications. The interaction between these different elements is changing as vehicles become increasingly autonomous, with different actuators, controllers, sensors and electronic components being brought in.
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