Automotive Software Framework Accelerates Safe Development

New cars contain far more software and hardware that require safety certification than almost any platform except possibly aircraft. The level of complexity continues to rise with multicore system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that use hypervisors to combine multiple operating systems and applications onto one platform. Starting from scratch to deliver safety-certifiable solutions isn't only daunting, but typically counterproductive for most companies.

Elektrobit’s EB xelor is designed to deliver the common underpinnings that include software components like hypervisors and operating systems (OS). This base can provide more than half the software needed in vehicles today and in the future (see figure). This includes critical OSes like AUTOSAR as well as application OSes like Linux.

Much of Elektrobit’s solution is based on open-source software like Adaptive AUTOSAR and Linux, but the key is providing the integration and long-term support necessary for automotive applications. This can save time and money when it comes to developing and supporting automotive solutions. It allows developers and vendors to concentrate on the portion of the system that differentiates them from competitors.

Using EB xelor isn't much different from using an OS except that multiple OSes are typically used in automotive SoCs these days. The SoCs may incorporate real-time CPU cores as well as application CPUs requiring different OSes. The use of virtual machines (VMs) requires a hypervisor. Mixing safety-critical and application VMs is possible, but it complicates the certification process. EB xelor makes this chore easier and places a lot of the support on Elektrobit.

The EB xelor solutions includes a number of components like the EB corbos Hypervisor that can handle security- and safety-critical VMs. EB tresos is the Classic AUTOSAR that also includes a tailor-made tool environment. EB corbos AdaptiveCore targets safe and secure high-performance controllers. It also includes a holistic software framework that targets this Adaptive AUTOSAR platform.

Finally, there's EB corbos Linux, a SUSE-based Linux distribution. The container-based Linux distribution is tailored for the automotive industry by limiting the base packages and providing security and safety artifacts needed for certification.

The key to this approach is the long-term support and integration that developers would otherwise need to handle if they integrated their own OS and framework components.