Whitepaper: Connectivity for next Generation E/E Architecture

Next-Gen E/E Architecture

Consumer and societal demands for greater safety, electrification, digital-life integration and connectivity have been driving an increasing number of electronic functions within vehicles, leading to ever-growing complexity in the electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture.
This is causing vehicle OEMs to introduce “smarter” architecture designs featuring centralized more powerful control units organized into distinct zones, providing more modern computing structures that enable server-based software processes.
This approach not only streamlines the wiring harness, reducing its weight and complexity, but also paves the way for more scalable and flexible vehicle designs and functional deployment.
A key enabler of this transformation is connectivity. In these next-generation E/E architectures, robust and high-speed communication networks are essential to ensuring seamless cross-functional data exchange between zones.
Moreover, connectivity technology will need to provide space-saving solutions to serve the higher number of connections across fewer high-power control units, while providing a greater level of modularity to support more flexibility and automated assembly processes.

This paper looks at how today’s automotive trends are impacting the evolution
of vehicle technologies and what the consequences will be for E/E architectures. Specifically, it focuses on the connectivity solutions that serve these new architectural concepts.