How Wind River enables SDVs to become safer, smarter and more connected

Over a century ago, the Ford Model T became the first mass produced vehicle. The car was universally sought after by families across the country in need of transportation. While the Model T is no longer comparable to modern cars, the ideas that shaped it are still present among consumers, such as reliability and ease of use, but there is growing demand for smarter, more feature rich and energy efficient cars.  

Software-defined vehicles (SDVs) have now become the next milestone for automotive companies. This isn’t only because companies like Tesla have accelerated the presence and popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and advanced driving systems, but simply because all industries are ruled by technological advancements and the increasing role of software.  

The public expects reliable connectivity and collaboration between their most used devices, and cars have naturally become an extension of these expectations. With the integration of smart sensors, cameras, and autonomous driving features, the automotive industry has made great strides to innovate. However, creating software-defined vehicles requires robust software infrastructure and expertise that ensures high-quality outcomes. 

The global automotive and electronics market industries are expected to reach $462 billion in value by 2030 because of the demand for smarter, more connected vehicles. The benefits for society include lower carbon emissions, fewer accidents, and an improved driving experience. Moreover, using over-the-air software updates, new features can be downloaded to a car long after it leaves the dealership lot and manufacturers can make profits from those. Because of these positives, automotive giants and startups are fighting to rapidly innovate. This behavior coupled with the consumer's growing interest in autonomous driving systems makes automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in need of a partner that can facilitate their software development.  

For more than four decades, Wind River has proactively anticipated innovation and offered forward-looking software solutions for various industries. The company is a trusted technology partner delivering software for mission-critical intelligent systems in the aerospace, defense, automotive, industrial, medical, and telecommunications sectors.  

The safety, security, and performance of Wind River software offers solutions for automotive companies struggling to meet the changing expectations of consumers. Drawing from Wind River’s proven experience in cloud technologies, industry players who have historically focused on the hardware elements of automobiles can safely shift their focus to software. Wind River’s software and expertise provide comprehensive support for any automotive company in search of cutting-edge platforms that can be deployed in their vehicles.  

The company’s Studio offering is the first cloud-native platform enabling the development, deployment, operations, and servicing of mission-critical edge systems, such as automobiles and airplanes. These capabilities have proven essential to build the intelligent systems required for modern software defined vehicles. This means software for intelligent cars can be developed fully in the cloud and deployed through the cloud. For example, just as a technical support person connects to a customer’s computer to fix an issue, automotive OEMs can connect to customer cars and manage their software remotely. Wind River’s solutions also improve vehicle and software quality, feature variety, safety certification, and reduce time-to-market and development costs. 

Wind River Studio also powers major national 5G network deployments globally, providing private cloud infrastructure enabling the virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) your 5G mobile phone connects to. Software defined vehicles also connect to these networks just as a mobile phone does, providing connectivity for the vehicle’s systems to enable the automotive OEM’s cloud based management systems and applications.  

Looking ahead, the promise of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology, where the 5G connected car is communicating and interacting with the world around it to deliver real-time information, will create a safer and richer experience for consumers. This will happen as the connected vehicle and 5G networks discussed above come together as an end to end system. This shift will also enable new revenue streams for telecommunication providers as well as automotive OEMs. The result will fuel machine-powered, AI enabled solutions that will further improve society and save lives.  

Wind River software is deployed today in edge systems such as cars, as well as in national-scale 5G cellular deployments - enabling end to end software solutions such as C-V2X. This 5G connectivity will prove essential for avoiding traffic collisions.  

Imagine a modern car with built-in cameras and radar following a large truck. As the driver looks to make a turn, these built-in sensors do the best they can to avoid accidents.  However, as the car begins to make the turn, its sensors are limited to what they can see and have missed important information due to the obstruction created by the truck. With C-V2X, if the car is able to also exchange data that is shared from nearby vehicles, this additional information can complete the picture and help in avoiding an accident. A car without C-V2X may pull in front of an oncoming vehicle, while the car with C-V2X will better protect the driver from what cannot be seen. Thus, the introduction of 5G connectivity and vehicle to vehicle communications enables the next generation of safety in automotive systems. 

“The next generation of cars will need 5G connectivity, computing power and performance to support C-V2X applications. This connectivity enables data exchange from a software defined connected vehicle, allowing that vehicle to become aware of the location of other cars and infrastructure as it moves around in real time. This then enables accident avoidance to other vehicles and to pedestrians, will improve traffic flow, and enable cars to provide the best possible driving experience - all while providing automotive OEMs new revenue streams from software applications. This is the future provided by the software defined, 5G connected vehicle,” says Paul Miller, Chief Technology Officer, Wind River.