The EE architecture for autonomous driving a domain-based approach

The era of self-driving cars places semiconductor companies at the center of important discussions about standards, methodologies, and design approaches. Traditional automakers and new auto disrupters ask: “How would a semiconductor company build a self-driving car?” Long standing companies need a way to maintain business continuity and incrementally build their portfolios in areas like autonomy. Disrupters want to build from the ground up with an all new approach. Both of these vantage points seek to make sense of extremely complex and interconnected design issues that present themselves in a high pressure competitive environment. NXP’s unique position in working with traditional car makers and disrupters, as well as automakers in every part of the world, brings insights into how design considerations and global trends are changing the shape of mobility. Many have thought about how a car should be conceptualised and built and it all comes down to a domain-based architecture. This paper presents a systems architecture approach based on domains, see FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2, and explains how this new architecture will help carmakers master the complexity of autonomous driving.