AUTOSAR is an open and standardized automotive software architecture that aims to facilitate the development of complex software systems for vehicles. It is a collaboration of automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and other companies in the automotive industry, established in 2003 to address the increasing complexity of electronic systems in modern vehicles.
AUTOSAR was founded by the partnership of nine companies to define an automotive open system architecture standard to support the needs of future automotive applications. They are:
Image courtesy: https://www.autosar.org/
The main goals of AUTOSAR are to:
- Standardize Software Architecture: AUTOSAR provides a common platform and methodology for developing automotive software. It defines a standardized layered software architecture that allows for the separation of application software from the underlying hardware and communication infrastructure.
- Promote Reusability: By defining standardized interfaces and APIs, AUTOSAR encourages the development of reusable software components. This reusability helps to reduce development time, cost, and effort, as well as improves the overall quality of automotive software.
- Enhance Scalability: The architecture is designed to be scalable, allowing it to be used in various automotive systems, from small microcontroller-based ECUs to more powerful domain-based ECUs.
- Support Interoperability: AUTOSAR fosters interoperability between different software components and ECUs from various vendors, promoting collaboration and compatibility within the automotive ecosystem.
- Simplify Integration: The standardization provided by AUTOSAR simplifies the integration process for different software modules and ECUs, allowing for more straightforward system integration and software updates.
- Improve Maintainability: With a clearly defined architecture and standardized interfaces, the maintenance and update processes for automotive software become more manageable and less error-prone.
AUTOSAR is not a specific software or product; instead, it’s a set of specifications and guidelines that manufacturers and suppliers can follow to develop their automotive software solutions. Companies that adhere to AUTOSAR can build software components that are interchangeable and compatible with other AUTOSAR-compliant systems, facilitating collaboration and interoperability in the automotive industry. There are two major variants within AUTOSAR which are known as Classic AUTOSAR and Adaptive AUTOSAR.
Overall, AUTOSAR plays a crucial role in advancing the development of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), infotainment systems, vehicle control systems, and other electronics-related functionalities in modern vehicles.