It is the key to advance the application of domestic automotive electronics basic software

The colleague Wang Lao was very depressed some time ago. He bought a car fault diagnostic machine that was broken and needed to change one. However, he ran several 4S stores without any fault diagnostic device of his model. The staff of the 4S shop told him that because there are multiple suppliers for the fault diagnosis machine, they couldn't purchase all the fault diagnostic instruments, and the fault diagnostic device must communicate with the fault diagnosis program in the basic software of the electronic control unit of the car. Although they have talked with suppliers, they are unwilling to be unified. This requires an auto manufacturer to coordinate. However, Lao Wang heard from a friend of a vehicle manufacturer that because auto makers lacked independent basic software, solving this problem would cost the automaker a high price, and it would take a while to solve it completely. This is just a microcosm of China's automotive electronics industry's lack of basic software dilemmas. The search for ways to solve this problem in the field is also like "having no choice but to send".

The development of basic software is inescapable. Automotive electronics is the core competitiveness of automobiles. The key to automotive electronic ECUs is automotive electronics software. The basis for its development is stable and reliable basic software. According to statistics, in the electronic controller, the amount of basic software code accounts for more than 50% of the total amount of code. The importance of basic software is self-evident, but from the current status of domestic automotive electronics basic software, it can be described as "internal and diplomatic difficulties."

Li Jun, deputy chief engineer of China Automotive Electronics Fundamental Software Independent Development and Industrialization Alliance and FAW Deputy Chief Engineer, told the China Electronics News that, on the one hand, over 95% of domestic basic software design platforms are monopolized by foreign companies. Although some companies have customized development based on their own needs, but have not formed scale, and have been developing from the bottom layer to the application program, because it is impossible to form a standard, the cost will be very expensive on average, and this direction of development is difficult to sustain. On the other hand, the basic technology of China's automotive electronics basic software is weak, and the supplier's power is dispersed. In particular, the lack of basic software industry standards has greatly affected its R&D and application.

The industry’s demand for domestic auto electronics basic software is increasingly urgent. In recent years, the market share of the main brand automobiles has been continuously rising, and the independent brand auto factories have also increasingly paid attention to the research and development of independent intellectual property rights. Under such circumstances, China will inevitably need auto electronic basic software with independent intellectual property rights to adapt to Localization requirements reduce the R&D and manufacturing costs of cars and increase their competitiveness. “The driving force for the development of automotive electronics basic software by OEMs is: First, independent research and development of basic software will help OEMs protect their intellectual property. Second, it will help reduce costs, shorten product development cycles, and improve product reliability. The third is to improve reusability and portability,” said Zhang Haitao, senior manager of the technology center of SAIC Motor Co., Ltd., “The development of safe, reliable, and controllable automotive electronics software is therefore of great significance.”

Pursuing individuality in commonality Although the independent research and development of China's automotive electronics application software has attracted the attention of vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, it has not yet formed a standardized software development industry chain. The situation of mutual confidentiality, horizontal barrier, and vertical disconnection is very serious. Cracking this contradiction requires both the government's support and the OEM's to achieve effective interaction between production, education and research.

At present, China has already "moved" up. "Core High Base" major special project 3-1 Topics Automotive Electronics "real-time embedded operating system and development environment" by Puhua Software Co., Ltd. and all of the above-mentioned carriers, FAW, Chery, Lianchuang as the representative of the vehicle manufacturers and zero Component manufacturers share the burden. They released v1.0, a domestic automotive electronics software platform last year, and formed an initial specification for automotive electronics software products. In order to promote the industrialization process and form a scale of industrialization, the “China Auto Electronics Fundamental Software Independent R&D and Industrialization Alliance” initiated by 20 units including FAW, SAIC, Chang’an, Chery, and Puhua Software has also come into play.

The establishment of the alliance is only the first step of the “Long March”. It is crucial to form and promote autonomous and controllable basic software standards as soon as possible. The automotive electronic basic software platform consists of a real-time operating system RTOS, application programming interface (API), communication protocol software stack, diagnostic components, calibration components, Bootloader components, application-specific platform components, and application layer software. Its development is a The laborious and time consuming process requires a lot of test verification. The foreign automotive electronics basic software has developed very well. For example, the German automotive electronics interface standard OSEK, JASPAR, the Japanese automotive software standardization organization, and the AUTOSAR system of the emerging automotive open system architecture, we do not need or need to Starting from scratch." "As the chip and system are the core of the computer, and the core of the car is dedicated chips and software, we will not be behind closed doors, we will build a set of both independent intellectual property and domestic characteristics on the basis of absorbing many advanced experience from abroad. It is also able to meet the international common standards of a set of automotive electronic basic software system.” Union Secretary-General, Deputy General Manager of China Puhua Foundation Software Co., Ltd. Xi Xi stressed.

Li Jun also mentioned that China started late, and another set of standards is not necessarily the best. In terms of “commonality”, the consensus in the industry is to integrate some mature foreign standards, such as self-developed real-time embedded systems based on the OSEK standard. The operating system uses AUTOSAR standards to develop CAN communication protocol stacks. On the other hand, in terms of "personality" such as the Bootloader component and application-specific platform components and application layer software, we need to issue our own "sound" to suit different customer requirements. He further pointed out that in order to meet the future needs of the automotive aftermarket, service market, and the automotive industry itself and the broader Internet of Things, we need to differentiate and need independent standards. After all, standards have a leading and guiding role in the development of technology, and the alliance will also Work in this area.

Yang Xijing explained to the reporter the work plan of the alliance. In the first half of 2011, it will release the first version of the domestic automotive electronics basic software specification, complete the integration test and release of the domestic automotive electronics basic software platform V4.0 version, and FAW, SAIC , Changan, Chery to promote the application. In the second half of 2011, the company will carry out product improvement, verification, and speeding up the industrialization of its applications. It will implement technical planning and roadmap implementation after V4.0, and will develop new alliance members within its own industry system.

Accelerating the application is the key to the so-called "knowledge easier." The software standard platform has been released, and how to let it “take root” is the key. Zhang Haitao stated that in order to really promote the application, two major problems must be solved: First, the implementation of the standards. Because the basic software is invisible, it is good for improving product quality, so it must be implemented. The second is to do a good job of this standard, we must protect intellectual property rights. If these two points can be solved, the industry is motivated and confident.

Yang Xi’s solution also stated that through the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" nuclear high base project, we have already formed some design specifications. We will promote the familiarity and use of the industry, and we must make sure that the industry can see if the platform is easy to use and the specifications are correct. A standard can be called a standard only if there are only a large number of people. He also acknowledged that the release of standards and the formation of industry standards are two things, and the Alliance will continue to develop and improve.

Li Jun said that V4.0 is not able to stand still, but in the development of several generations of automobile in our country, after the use of vehicle manufacturers to test, if you really feel good, then it can develop. The alliance is like "soil." Because an operating system and a basic software are good or bad, they are certified, improved, and perfected through experiments, use, and production. It takes time for the alliance to cultivate. In addition, the basic software is not "solely fighting" but also interacts with the hardware.

The reporter commented that vehicle manufacturers should be able to cooperate with them. It can be said that today, whoever has mastered the core capabilities of automotive electronics, whoever will grasp the core competitiveness of future automotive products. The reason is that the proportion of electronic systems and their software accounts for the increasing cost of the vehicle. It has now reached 40% in mid- to high-end models. In addition, more than 90% of automotive technology innovations are related to electronics, of which 80% are brought by software. China has become a big automobile manufacturing country, but the lack of core technology is still as heavy as "Taishan's top pressure." Basic software is one of the "fortresses" that we must overcome. To achieve breakthroughs in basic software, it also faces multiple difficulties.

Features bear the brunt of it. Cars need to use common things, but also to make their own cars have personality, this core lies in the basic software. Just as PCs require a powerful operating system, cars also need excellent basic software and their functions are very important. The platform-based basic software can be shared among different ECU products and between different projects, thereby reducing product development costs, shortening product development cycles and improving reliability. In the first half of 2011, the alliance will release the first version of the domestic automotive electronics basic software specification, complete the integration test and release of the domestic automotive electronics basic software platform V4.0 version, and the performance of the V4.0 version, can achieve the desired effect Still to be seen.

At the same time, the cooperation of vehicle manufacturers is very important. The requirements for quality and stability reliability of automobiles are high, and the requirements for the underlying software are more stringent. It is necessary to cooperate with models and parts development to conduct a large number of test and verification work. The maturity of automotive embedded basic software must rely on the needs of OEMs and A lot of capital investment. In this regard, the attitude of OEMs is particularly critical. The auto market is a "completely competitive market." Under the circumstance of chasing "profit maximization," OEMs are reluctant to spend time and spend huge amounts of money to change their original development standards and development processes to verify V4.0. How large will it be? Quantity trials, how to promote applications after trial, etc., have yet to be tested. In this regard, related OEMs also need to have the courage to seek solutions and have a long-term vision, and effectively provide “nutrition” for the development of domestic automotive electronics basic software.

In addition, how can the stalemate "can not be used?" Although the coalition claims that V4.0 will be applied and promoted by FAW, SAIC, Chang'an, and Chery, how to accelerate the "application promotion"? How effective will it be? This will affect the functional refinement and verification of the next product, as well as the implementation of the technical plan and roadmap. It's like using Microsoft's operating system, suddenly changing one may be very unaccustomed. The coalition must also sum up the practice of “thunder and rain” in other certain coalitions in the past to establish a true “offensive and defensive alliance” and effectively “use” the domestic auto brands. The basic software for domestic automotive electronics "starts from the beginning" is to prepare for the "long-term war."