Chipmakers to carmakers: Time to get out of the semiconductor Stone Age

[Morris Minor]

There are dozens of controller chips scattered around inside vehicles from legacy makers, commodity single purpose items. There's little integration; it's not like manufacturers can easily recompile code for Chip B should Chip A become unavailable because of a pandemic. This would be possible if they were more general purpose chips performing many functions.
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When it comes to the electronic circuits that power our everyday lives, the automobile is simultaneously the world's most expensive consumer good and the one that runs on the cheapest possible semiconductor chips.

Moore's law of ever-increasing miniaturization seemingly never reached the automotive industry. Dozens of chips found in everything from electronic brake systems to airbag control units tend to rely on obsolete technology often well over a decade old. These employ comparatively simple transistors that can be anywhere from 45 nanometers to as much as 90 nanometers in size, far too large—and too primitive—to be suitable for today's smartphones.

More...
https://fortune.com/2021/09/17/chip-makers-carmakers-time-get-out-semiconductor-stone-age/

[AutobahnSHO]

Problem with using general chips is they will need software.

That's a radical shift for manufacturers- to ask them to jump into a deep new pool....

[Morris Minor]

Problem with using general chips is they will need software.

That's a radical shift for manufacturers- to ask them to jump into a deep new pool....

They're transitioning from milling cylinder blocks to programming & developing mobile Xboxes.

[MX793]

They're transitioning from milling cylinder blocks to programming & developing mobile Xboxes.

Considering the #1 "trouble spot" for automotive reliability today is tied to software issues associated with infotainment systems, I'd say that's going swimmingly.

Don't get me started on the fact that it's impossible to evaluate software reliability in terms of MTBF before rolling it out.

Cars are durable goods.  They are designed to be operable and serviceable for 15+ years.  This means managing the production of spare parts to support vehicles that are 10+ years old.  Electronics obsolescence becomes a real challenge on those time scales.  Both hardware and software (older chips may not support latest software, security patches, etc).  The typical smartphone isn't expected to last more than 5 years and when something breaks, they are often just thrown away.

Then there's production lifecycle differences.  Most phones are only in production for maybe 3 years.  Typical car is lucky to be getting its first mid-cycle refresh or face lift then.

[r0tor]

I just don't understand the modern automotive architecture.  I don't understand how we went from 1 ecu controlling the car to 30.  Hell, I have a separate module in the Alfa just to control the seat slide... I mean wtf

[MX793]

I just don't understand the modern automotive architecture.  I don't understand how we went from 1 ecu controlling the car to 30.  Hell, I have a separate module in the Alfa just to control the seat slide... I mean wtf

Simple relay logic was replaced by control modules for things like power windows, power seats, etc.

[AutobahnSHO]

it's always about what's "easiest" (in reality, cheapest).

Covid has shifted a lot of stuff up- apparently even more than we realize.

[Soup DeVille]

I just don't understand the modern automotive architecture.  I don't understand how we went from 1 ecu controlling the car to 30.  Hell, I have a separate module in the Alfa just to control the seat slide... I mean wtf

Its mostly because most of those parts are made by suppliers, and the manufacturers want a turn-key drop in solution that doesn't require a lot of processing from the BCM. Almost everything is its own node on the LIN network, which means everything has its own little program to run and report back. The only thing that's standardized is the communication.

[FoMoJo]

Its mostly because most of those parts are made by suppliers, and the manufacturers want a turn-key drop in solution that doesn't require a lot of processing from the BCM. Almost everything is its own node on the LIN network, which means everything has its own little program to run and report back. The only thing that's standardized is the communication.

Is there not a central processor that coordinates everything, or attempts to?

[MX793]

Is there not a central processor that coordinates everything, or attempts to?

There's some level of central coordination, but it's really a network of devices that communicate to one another.

[Morris Minor]

Simple relay logic was replaced by control modules for things like power windows, power seats, etc.

That's exactly what happened IMO: expediency & corporate culture, when electronic control logic arrived one the scene, was to scatter modules everywhere they'd had relays. So lots of wires and connectors still needed to support all that. And all the associated failure points.

It's easier & cheaper to do that than to embark on a ground-up rethink.

[Soup DeVille]

Is there not a central processor that coordinates everything, or attempts to?

Yes.
Actually there's either two or three.
Generally, the ECM (sometimes called also the PCM) controls the running gear of the car; engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, etc. Then there's the BCM which is all about the interior; climate control, seats, windows, all that. On some cars the "active" portions; the emergency braking, lane assist, and other advanced systems have their own controller as well, but more and more those are being integrated into the ECM/PCM.

Each of these though controls a network of multiple devices; each of those essentially in itself a standalone computer.

For instance; I work with sunroofs. Sunroofs (and other windows, and things like seat sliders or automatic doors) have their own module. Its programmed with the various locations- the start/stop points, the anti-pinch routine, and the speed (which is programmed to remain constant regardless of voltage variations in the system). It can work on its own via an old fashioned switch; but it usually doesn't. Usually the BCM decided when to send the signal to open the sunroof, and the sunroof node obeys the command over the network.

Back in the day, you'd hit a switch, it would close a contact which powers a little electric motor directly, and the motor would move.

Now, you make an input, either on a touchscreen or a physical button (and in some newer cars, via an app on your smartphone). The Infotainment system relays that input to the BCM, and the BCM decides whether or not to send that signal to the sunroof node, which then executes the command (and eventually, a motor turns).

[shp4man]

Modern cars have several network types all in the same vehicle. Sometimes, when a module fails, it can take down the whole thing. As in, if the ACM (radio) fails, the car may not run.
If the engine MAP sensor fails in a 3.5 Ecoboost 2019 Explorer, the other vehicle systems go crazy, transmission, ABS, instrument cluster. Car is undriveable. May only go about 5MPH. 

The points and condenser in my old truck however, would survive an EMP burst attack. 

[AutobahnSHO]

car electronics can be pretty wacky.

Ford often installed two stereo harnesses in the original taurus- one from head unit to premium speakers and amp in the rear, which connected back up to the regular speaker harness next to the head unit. Cheaper than just building a different harness for each option.

[Soup DeVille]

car electronics can be pretty wacky.

Ford often installed two stereo harnesses in the original taurus- one from head unit to premium speakers and amp in the rear, which connected back up to the regular speaker harness next to the head unit. Cheaper than just building a different harness for each option.

My wagon did that too; made installing a new head unit confusing.

[Laconian]

Integration is one of the hardest things to get right in software. Now my woes are manifesting in meatspace!

[GoCougs]

I just don't understand the modern automotive architecture.  I don't understand how we went from 1 ecu controlling the car to 30.  Hell, I have a separate module in the Alfa just to control the seat slide... I mean wtf

TL;DR - if you want a new model every 4-7 years that you can actually afford, this is how it has to, and is going to be done. This subject only changes with a wholesale rework of the industry, particularly market desire.

A modern vehicle is actually a subset of many products - engine, transmission, battery, HVAC, infotainment, lighting, windows, sunroof, ABS, etc., and each sub product needs some sort of "chip(s)" to control or interface to it. Each sub product has a life of its own, to be used across multiple models and often times for multiple generations, in order to produce vehicles that are affordable and have relatively quick revision cycles. A lone "ECU" to control the whole of the car would result in vehicles that are far too expensive and take far too much time to develop.

As to the subject of the article, the auto industry moves very slow, for all sorts of reasons; including the safety validation process as mentioned, and other things like supplier capabilities and the sheer complexity of manufacturing a modern vehicle to meet various market and regulatory demands.

[r0tor]

I don't see how a BCM networked to a seat module is any cheaper than a BCM with a few more I/O points

[GoCougs]

I don't see how a BCM networked to a seat module is any cheaper than a BCM with a few more I/O points

Yes, we know.

As explained, if said "chip" is now controlling the seats and say the power windows, that design is inexorably linked - software, documentation, validation, manufacturing, assembly - which means it is that more difficult to use and evolve this tandem "sub product" for use in other vehicles.

[Soup DeVille]

I don't see how a BCM networked to a seat module is any cheaper than a BCM with a few more I/O points

It becomes a lot more I/O points very quickly, some of which are pulse modulated or analog or require PID feedback loops and then the wiring harness becomes a lot more complicated and heavier.

I mean, more standardization would be nice, but there are legitimate reasons why things are the way they are.

[Laconian]

What's a PID feedback loop?

[Soup DeVille]

What's a PID feedback loop?

Proportional Integral Derivative. 

Scales an output depending on how far away from a target value an input is (or more often the rate of change away from it). Cruise control uses it.  That's how it knows to use X amount of throttle to maintain the same speed as you go up and down hills.

[r0tor]

It becomes a lot more I/O points very quickly, some of which are pulse modulated or analog or require PID feedback loops and then the wiring harness becomes a lot more complicated and heavier.

I mean, more standardization would be nice, but there are legitimate reasons why things are the way they are.

It worked in the 1990s

[Laconian]

Proportional Integral Derivative. 

Scales an output depending on how far away from a target value an input is (or more often the rate of change away from it). Cruise control uses it.  That's how it knows to use X amount of throttle to maintain the same speed as you go up and down hills.

Is that fuzzy logic?

[Soup DeVille]

It worked in the 1990s

It did. There were also fewer electronics, and they did less with less reliability.

Now, I'm with you to a certain extent here; and think its a bit ridiculous when one needs to go to the dealership to have one's power headrest reprogrammed. But, regulatory and consumer requirements are driving these things and I don't see it changing soon.

[Soup DeVille]

Is that fuzzy logic?

Yes, basically.

Most real world fuzzy logic I know of is basically a PID with variable gain.

[FoMoJo]

It did. There were also fewer electronics, and they did less with less reliability.

Now, I'm with you to a certain extent here; and think its a bit ridiculous when one needs to go to the dealership to have one's power headrest reprogrammed. But, regulatory and consumer requirements are driving these things and I don't see it changing soon.

I suppose, soon enough, a car will see/identify you approaching and open the door.  It will save a motion of your arm and finger.

[r0tor]

Is that fuzzy logic?

Its math... You have a sum of something that's proportional to the error from setpoint, proportional to the rate of change of the error (derivative), and proportional to the time weighted integral or average error

[Morris Minor]

My coffee brewer uses PID control: the closer the heater gets the water to the target temp, the more it backs off so it can nail the set temp & not overshoot.

[Laconian]

Its math... You have a sum of something that's proportional to the error from setpoint, proportional to the rate of change of the error (derivative), and proportional to the time weighted integral or average error

What's T in this case? What's the size of the sampling window?