A viewpoint-based evaluation method for future Automotive Architectures

The Automotive industry undergoes a major transformation. Alternative powertrains, automated driving and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)-communication impose new requirements for vehicle development. Automotive software (SW), hardware (HW) and Vehicle Electronics combined in Electrical/Electronic architectures (E/E-architectures) play a key role in the paradigm change. An evolution from function-oriented, distributed architectures towards domain-or even vehicle-centralized architectures is expected. Even so, the question of evaluating architecture alternatives based on quality characteristics is unsolved. Then again, measuring an E/E-architecture’s quality and suitability is necessary for developing appropriate, use case specific solutions to support a sustainable transformation. By designing a method to evaluate design alternatives for the E/E-architecture of vehicles, combining different viewpoints and evaluation metrics, a contribution to this transformation can be provided. In this work such a viewpoint-based architecture framework enabling a holistic E/E-architecture assessment is introduced. Metrics substantiating these viewpoints are linked to the model. Finally the proposed procedure is demonstrated in the context of a simplified use case.