Addressing complexity for automotive software and systems engineers

A connected, smart car is generating large amounts of data, while processing data from external sources such as weather and traffic. It's not just interacting with other drivers, but also exchanging data with other connected devices such as smart phones, watches, connected homes, workplaces and other connected spaces.

Today's cars are required to have built-in data intake and processing capabilities, along with on-board analytics. Such data capabilities require advanced electronics and software, which in turn drives up product development complexity.

Computerization of vehicles has been long underway, but the requirements for smart cars are a paradigm shift in how the products are designed and engineered. Today's smart cars are packed with processing power which requires millions of lines of code to function properly.

The situation is getting more complex as we head towards autonomous driving. A myriad of systems are being controlled by software, that haves to perform flawlessly while delivering a pleasurable occupant experience. As the complexity of product design increases, the reliance on modern engineering and development processes becomes increasingly crucial.

For an organization to be successful, it needs to deliver results. Projects fail because requirements are incomplete, incorrect, ambiguous or lack the necessary details. By digitally managing requirements, organizations can improve visibility, traceability and re-use, thereby reducing risk of downstream errors.

Documentation, traceability, prioritization and convergence on requirements can be accomplished by utilizing a robust digital framework, where controlling change is straightforward and communicating information to relevant stakeholders, seamless.

In the automotive industry, globalization is the rule, resulting in distributed teams working across systems of systems. Managing requirements changes becomes critical for successful product delivery in such environments.

In order to avoid additional rework, lack of first time quality, unpredictable schedules deviations and cost issues, organizations must follow a process that makes requirement changes very easy to deal with. The ability to propose, analyze, approve, and implement changes within any system, across any team becomes essential.

Connected, smart cars are genuine IoT constructs. This means that multiple industries are involved in their creation and subsequent operations. With increased computerization, cross-industry partnerships are commonplace in automotive organizations. Electronics, insurance, entertainment, telecommunications and security providers are some of the main industries integrating with vehicles.

This means that manufacturers and suppliers must work together across industries and successfully make the desired product integrations happen.

The global aspect of automotive design and development also means that different languages and tools are being used across the various locations. This increases the importance of a unified framework where project requirements can be relied upon as a single version of the truth.

Analysis and agreements, along with traceability and validation, all have to comply with a unified set of rules that are not dependent on geographic location, languages or tools.

Requirements management enables the ability to re-purpose, track and manage reusable components, parts and systems for localization of the vehicle for a particular geography. Poor requirements management results in the inability to reuse systems requirements, driving the creation of specific requirements for each country or market, which is time and cost prohibitive.

A successful framework for requirements management allows automotive organizations to achieve a high degree of modularity in their processes and products, along with simpler supply chains.

ASPICE or Automotive Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination is an extendable process assessment model for the automotive industry, focused on developing to achieve compliance.

It is a methodology for ensuring a consistent set of processes are followed in the creation of the requirements and well as the entire creation process for the vehicle. ASPICE is maintained by automotive companies and required by automotive OEMs.

The ASPICE standard prescriptively defines and utilizes a common process model to assess how a vehicle and its sub-systems are created, tested and produced. It is the accepted standard for automotive OEMs worldwide.

As the complexity of software utilized in a car increases, a robust requirements management product is needed to deliver the ASPICE components necessary to satisfy any level of the ASPICE standard.

Traceability and consistency, along with communication of the relevant information, agreement on the validation criteria and successful validation of the change are responsibilities that affect the entire supply chain.

Auto manufacturers and suppliers are looking towards requirements management and the ASPICE reference model to provide a common set of process assessment capabilities in the creation and reporting of auto products.