Introduction to AUTOSAR

What is AUTOSAR

AUTOSAR  - Automotive Open Systems Architecture

•Autosar is an Open and Standardized automotive software architecture jointly Developed by Automobile manufacturers, suppliers

      and Tool Developers

•In Simple words “AUTOSAR is a common platform across the whole automotive industry which will enhance the Applications scope of vehicle functionalities without disturbing the existing model”

What is the AUTOSAR standard and why is it created?

•AUTOSAR is standardized software architecture developed in cooperation between car manufacturers originally intended for the automotive industry but is steadily gaining interest from other industries as well. AUTOSAR was developed with the intention of being able to handle the increased complexity in today’s automotive industry and to decouple software from hardware. 


AUTOSAR Purpose 

•The development is moving from a hardware and component-driven process towards a process that is requirement and function-driven. The aim is not to optimize every single component, the future challenge for engineers is to optimize on a system level. In order to do so, a common platform is required that is scalable and supports exchangeable software modules. One of the fundamental ideas behind AUTOSAR is reusable Software Components (SWCs) that can deal with the increasing complexity today and in the future  


Application software that supports the AUTOSAR standard will receive several benefits. The following examples are the driving forces why we need AUTOSAR 

•Manage increasing E/E complexity – Associated with growth in functional scope.

•Improve flexibility – More room for updates, upgrades and modifications.

•Improve scalability – The system can in a more graceful manner be enlarged.

•Improve quality and reliability – Proven software applications can be reused.

•Detection of errors in early design phases

Technical goals and objectives

•Modularity - This will enable “tailoring of software according to the individual requirements of electronic control units and their tasks.” . This goal is achieved by introducing standardized interfaces and hardware abstraction.

•Scalability – This will ensure “the adaptability of common software modules to different vehicle platforms to prohibit proliferation of software with similar functionality.” .

•Transferability - Transferred functions will “optimize the use of resources available throughout a vehicle’s electronic architecture.” . This is achieved by hardware abstraction; the software should be possible to place on any ECU in the system.

•Re-usability – Reuse of functions will “help to improve product quality and reliability and to reinforce corporate brand image across product lines.” This goal is achievable thanks to the object oriented system design. The software is designed as atomic components which should increase the reuse possibilities.

Similar and additional goals and objectives are these ones,

•Implementation and standardization of basic system functions as an OEM wide “Standard Core“ solution.

•Integration of functional modules from multiple suppliers

•Maintainability throughout the whole “Product Life Cycle“

•Increased use of “Commercial off the shelf hardware“

•Software updates and upgrades over vehicle lifetime

•Consideration of availability and safety requirements

•Redundancy activation