Automotive Engine Electronics

Automotive electronics are electronic systems used in vehicles, including engine

management, ignition, radio, carputers, telematics, in-car entertainment systems
and others. Ignition, engine, and transmission electronics are also found in
trucks, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, and other internal combustion-powered
machinery such as forklifts, tractors, and excavators. Related elements for control
of relevant electrical systems are found on hybrid vehicles and electric cars as
well.

Electronic systems have become an increasingly large component of the cost of an

automobile, from only around 1% of its value in 1950 to around 30% in 2010.[1]

The earliest electronics systems available as factory installations were vacuum

tube car radios, starting in the early 1930s. The development of semiconductors
after WWII greatly expanded the use of electronics in automobiles, with solid-state
diodes making the automotive alternator the standard after about 1960, and the
first transistorized ignition systems appearing about 1955.

The development of integrated circuits and microprocessors made a range of

automotive applications economically feasible in the 1970s. In the early 1970s, the
Japanese electronics industry began producing integrated circuits and
microcontrollers for the Japanese automobile industry, used for in-car
entertainment, automatic wipers, electronic locks, dashboard, and engine control.
[2] The Ford EEC (Electronic Engine Control) system, which utilized the Toshiba
TLCS-12 microprocessor, went into mass production in 1975.[3] In 1978, the Cadillac
Seville fetured a "trip computer" based on a 6802 microprocessor. Electronically-
controlled ignition and fuel injection systems allowed automotive designers to
achieve vehicles meeting requirements for fuel economy and lower emissions, while
still maintaining high levels of performance and convenience for drivers. Today's
automobiles contain a dozen or more processors, in functions such as engine
management, transmission control, climate control, antilock braking, passive safety
systems, navigation, and other functions.[4]

Modern electric cars rely on power electronics for the main propulsion motor
control, as well as managing the battery system. Future autonomous cars will rely
on powerful computer systems, an array of sensors, networking, and satellite
navigation, all of which will require electronics.

Contents
1 Types
1.1 Engine electronics
1.2 Transmission electronics
1.3 Chassis electronics
1.4 Passive safety
1.5 Driver assistance
1.6 Passenger comfort
1.7 Entertainment systems
1.8 Electronic Integrated Cockpit systems
2 Functional safety requirements
3 Security
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
Types
Automotive electronics or automotive embedded systems are distributed systems, and
according to different domains in the automotive field, they can be classified
into:
Engine electronics
Transmission electronics
Chassis electronics
Passive safety
Driver assistance
Passenger comfort
Entertainment systems
Electronic Integrated Cockpit systems
Engine electronics
One of the most demanding electronic parts of an automobile is the engine control
unit (ECU). Engine controls demand one of the highest real time deadlines, as the
engine itself is a very fast and complex part of the automobile. Of all the
electronics in any car the computing power of the engine control unit is the
highest, typically a 32-bit processor.[citation needed]

A modern car may have up to 100 ECU's and a commercial vehicle up to 40.[citation
needed]

An engine ECU controls such functions as:

In a diesel engine:

Fuel injection rate

Emission control, NOx control
Regeneration of oxidation catalytic converter
Turbocharger control
Cooling system control
Throttle control
In a gasoline engine:

Lambda control
OBD (On-Board Diagnostics)
Cooling system control
Ignition system control
Lubrication system control (only a few have electronic control)
Fuel injection rate control
Throttle control
Many more engine parameters are actively monitored and controlled in real-time.
There are about 20 to 50 that measure pressure, temperature, flow, engine speed,
oxygen level and NOx level plus other parameters at different points within the
engine. All these sensor signals are sent to the ECU, which has the logic circuits
to do the actual controlling. The ECU output is connected to different actuators
for the throttle valve, EGR valve, rack (in VGTs), fuel injector (using a pulse-
width modulated signal), dosing injector and more. There are about 20 to 30
actuators in all.

Transmission electronics
These control the transmission system, mainly the shifting of the gears for better
shift comfort and to lower torque interrupt while shifting. Automatic transmissions
use controls for their operation, and also many semi-automatic transmissions having
a fully automatic clutch or a semi-auto clutch (declutching only). The engine
control unit and the transmission control exchange messages, sensor signals and
control signals for their operation.

Chassis electronics
The chassis system has a lot of sub-systems which monitor various parameters and
are actively controlled:
ABS - Anti-lock Braking System
TCS � Traction Control System
EBD � Electronic Brake Distribution
ESP � Electronic Stability Program
PA - Parking Assistance
Passive safety
Main article: Passive safety
These systems are always ready to act when there is a collision in progress or to
prevent it when it senses a dangerous situation:

Air bags
Hill descent control
Emergency brake assist system
Driver assistance
Main article: Advanced driver-assistance systems
Lane assist system
Speed assist system
Blind spot detection
Park assist system
Adaptive cruise control system
Pre-collision Assist
Passenger comfort
Automatic climate control
Electronic seat adjustment with memory
Automatic wipers
Automatic headlamps - adjusts beam automatically
Automatic cooling - temperature adjustment
Entertainment systems
Navigation system
Vehicle audio
Information access
All of the above systems forms an infotainment system. Developmental methods for
these systems vary according to each manufacturer. Different tools are used for
both hardware and software development.

Electronic Integrated Cockpit systems

These are new generation hybrid ECUs that combine the functionalities of multiple
ECUs of Infotainment Head Unit, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS),
Instrument Cluster, Rear Camera/Parking Assist, Surround View Systems etc. This
saves on cost of electronics as well as mechanical/physical parts like
interconnects across ECUs etc. There is also a more centralized control so data can
be seamlessly exchanged between the systems.

There are of course challenges too. Given the complexity of this hybrid system, a
lot more rigor is needed to validate the system for robustness, safety and
security. For example, if the infotainment system's application which could be
running an open source Android OS is breached, there could be possibility of
hackers to take control of the car remotely and potentially misuse it for anti
social activities. Typically so, usage of a hardware+software enabled hypervisors
are used to virtualize and create separate trust and safety zones that are immune
to each other's failures or breaches. Lot of work is happening in this area and
potentially will have such systems soon if not already.

Functional safety requirements

In order to minimize the risk of dangerous failures, safety related electronic
systems have to be developed following the applicable product liability
requirements. Disregard for, or inadequate application of these standards can lead
to not only personal injuries, but also severe legal and economic consequences such
as product cancellations or recalls.
The IEC 61508 standard, generally applicable to electrical/electronic/programmable
safety-related products, is only partially adequate for automotive-development
requirements. Consequently, for the automotive industry, this standard is replaced
by the existing ISO 26262, currently released as a Final Draft International
Standard (FDIS). ISO/DIS 26262 describes the entire product life-cycle of safety
related electrical/electronic systems for road vehicles. It has been published as
an international standard in its final version in November 2011. The implementation
of this new standard will result in modifications and various innovations in the
automobile electronics development process, as it covers the complete product life-
cycle from the concept phase until its decommissioning.

Security
See also: Automotive security
As more functions of the automobile are connected to short- or long-range networks,
cybersecurity of systems against unauthorized modification is required. With
critical systems such as engine controls, transmission, air bags, and braking
connected to internal diagnostic networks, remote access could result in a
malicious intruder altering the function of systems or disabling them, possibly
causing injuries or fatalities. Every new interface presents a new "attack
surface". The same facility that allows the owner to unlock and start a car from a
smart phone app also presents risks due to remote access. Auto manufacturers may
protect the memory of various control microprocessors both to secure them from
unauthorized changes and also to ensure only manufacturer-authorized facilities can
diagnose or repair the vehicle. Systems such as keyless entry rely on cryptographic
techniques to ensure "replay" or "man-in-the-middle attacks" attacks cannot record
sequences to allow later break-in to the automobile. [5]

In 2015 the German general automobile club commissioned an investigation of the

vulnerabilities of one manufacturer's electronics system, which could have led to
such exploits as unauthorized remote unlocking of the vehicle. [6]

See also