The NDS association is committed to supporting the development of Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs), which are driving the latest technological evolution in the automotive industry. We identify two key pillars that support SDV development: robust standards and open-source software. To foster this progress, we emphasize the implementation of NDS.Live data standards, ensuring interoperability and safety within in-vehicle systems. However, the adoption of these standards often remains slow and cumbersome.
At the same time, NDS advocates for the use of open-source data, offering a flexible, community-driven approach that can accelerate innovation and provide reusable components for SDVs. However, integrating these open-source libraries with established standards into proprietary stacks often requires significant ramp-up time, which can delay time-to-market.
To address these challenges, we suggest harnessing the power of advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI can serve as a transformative enabler to streamline the adoption of both standards and open-source solutions in SDVs. By automating repetitive tasks, offering context-aware guidance, and facilitating seamless integration, AI can significantly reduce the time and effort required to align development processes with evolving standards and open-source frameworks.
Open-source software plays a crucial role in driving SDV development by fostering collaboration and innovation across the industry. NDS representatives witnessed how Elektrobit presented their SDV roadmap, showcasing how open source is used to create end-to-end solutions, from cloud platforms to cockpit systems. Elektrobit uses open source to accelerate the integration and flexibility of SDV architectures, allowing for seamless updates and advancements in functionalities like advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving.
At the NDS Association, we are actively contributing to open-source development through the integration of open-source with NDS.Live. Our efforts aim to standardize and make navigation data more accessible, ensuring seamless integration into SDV platforms. By embracing open-source principles, we are helping make digital map technologies community-driven, empowering the industry to innovate and deploy SDV solutions more effectively.
Standardization is crucial for developing SDVs, as it simplifies the integration of complex systems and ensures seamless communication between Electronic Control Units (ECUs). With various communication protocols like CAN, Ethernet, and SOME/IP, standardization enables smooth data flow and reduces compatibility issues. It also streamlines middleware, ensuring efficient communication across systems and supporting faster, more reliable Over-the-Air (OTA) updates. Additionally, standardization lowers development costs, enhances security, and ensures compliance with global safety regulations, making SDVs easier to manage and more efficient to operate.
NDS standards are key to advancing SDVs by ensuring seamless integration of navigation systems across different platforms. By standardizing map data formats, NDS simplifies the implementation of ADAS and autonomous driving, reducing development complexity and improving vehicle performance. Through wide adoption of NDS.Live data standard, automakers achieve real-time data sharing, which is crucial for dynamic routing and automated driving in SDVs, ultimately enhancing reliability and scalability.
AI significantly improves the development of SDVs by automating critical tasks such as code generation, bug detection, and testing. Machine learning techniques like automated code generation and model-based testing reduce manual effort, speeding up the development process and identifying issues more efficiently. AI-powered tools enable rapid prototyping and streamline workflows, allowing development teams to focus on innovation while enhancing software quality. This automation leads to faster, more efficient SDV development, making AI a game-changer in the automotive software industry.
The Navigation Data Standard (NDS), which provides a framework for infotainment and HD maps, faces competitive pressure from proprietary offerings, that require ongoing integration of the latest technologies. For this reason, NDS members direct collaborative efforts to integrate the latest technologies into development and testing processes. Among other collaborative projects, we work on the NDS Expert AI Assistant that exemplifies these integration strategies, serving as the basis for accelerated development of SDVs efficiently utilizing both robust standards and open-source software.
This AI-driven approach addresses traditional bottlenecks, enabling development teams to focus on innovation rather than manual compliance tasks. Yet, the implementation also reveals challenges, including data integration complexities, user adaptability issues, and the need to continuously update both the underlying standards and the open-source components aligning them with the evolving automotive landscape.
NDS experts are preparing to present this AI-driven approach on the ELIV conference, 15-16 October in Bonn, in scope of the “Innovation Acceleration” topic. We will focus on lessons learned and provide a practical roadmap for companies and standard-setting organizations aiming to improve their SDV development cycles. By uniting AI, open-source software, and agile standardization processes, organizations can achieve rapid, efficient, and scalable innovation—a critical advantage in today’s fast-paced technological environment.
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