IBM addresses complexity in automotive systems

ORLANDO, USA: IBM has teamed with industry leading manufacturers, Hughes Telematics, Inc. (HTI) and Daimler Fleetboard GmbH, to address the growing complexity of designing and managing automotive systems.

The companies have collaborated with IBM to develop software platforms that more quickly deliver telematics services to their customers.

Although vehicles are becoming more complex they are also becoming smarter. The intersection of information and communications technology, also known as telematics, is expected to be a standard feature in vehicles by 2015 according to ABI Research. The use of telematics allows vehicles to be connected in ways that are designed to enhance the driving experience for consumers, or increase the operational effectiveness of transportation companies.

Growing ecosystem of automotive industry
Automotive manufacturers are also facing the challenge of having to integrate a growing amount of software, mechanical and electronic technologies across a vast ecosystem of suppliers.

Additionally, these technologies need to be tracked and managed as they evolve over twenty-years -- the average lifespan of a vehicle.

Further contributing to this challenge, the evolution of automotive control electronics is expanding at a rapid rate. In 1990, the amount of electronics and software in a vehicle accounted for less than 16 percent of the vehicle's total value. Today, that share is projected to account for almost 40 percent of the value of a new vehicle.

Due to this exponential growth in the automotive electronics industry, owning a modern vehicle is equivalent to operating thirty or more computers on wheels. In fact, the average automobile now has several millions of lines of code -- more than a space shuttle.

"As the use of software continues to serve as the basis for increased innovation and competitive advantage in the automobile industry, the traditional approach of developing software will not work for today's modern vehicle manufacturers and their partners," said Dr. Daniel Sabbah, general manager, IBM Rational.

"Today, premium class vehicles are estimated to contain up to one gigabyte of on-board software. Clearly, the companies that will succeed in the automobile industry will be those that develop a core competency in designing, delivering and managing software."