Designing a Scalable In-Vehicle Network for Autonomous and Electric Vehicles

The rapid evolution of chip-level architectures drives a transformative shift in how in-vehicle networks are designed for autonomous and electric vehicles. As high-performance computing (HPC) elements advance, more vehicle functions can be consolidated into fewer computing platforms.

 

This architectural compression supports the migration of edge-based software toward centralized HPCs, enabling a more efficient, scalable in vehicle network design that can help new capabilities for years to come. 

Two dominant architectural approaches have emerged. Domain Master architectures assign dedicated HPCs to individual vehicle domains, such as powertrain, infotainment, or driver assistance systems. While effective for today's systems, Domain Master setups may struggle to scale as software complexity and data traffic grow. In contrast, Zonal architectures distribute HPCs throughout the vehicle's geography, with each zone controller managing software from multiple domains. This reduces cable weight and complexity and offers improved fault isolation and better performance scalability as vehicle platforms evolve.

 

A core enabler of these scalable architectures is automotive Ethernet. Unlike legacy CAN or LIN networks, automotive Ethernet offers much higher bandwidth, enabling it to handle the immense data generated by sensors, cameras, and compute platforms in real-time. Critically, it supports the ability to perform over-the-air software updates across all HPCs and virtual machines, an essential requirement as vehicles become more software-defined. Additionally, Ethernet supports built-in diagnostic and monitoring capabilities necessary for maintaining system integrity, ensuring uptime, and enabling predictive maintenance.

 

Why Ethernet is a Big Deal in Cars

Here's where automotive Ethernet steps in. Unlike older network systems like CAN or LIN, Ethernet offers much more bandwidth, which is essential when transmitting huge volumes of data from cameras, sensors, and AI-powered platforms in real time.

 

Ethernet also supports:

●      Over-the-air (OTA) software updates to all HPCs and virtual machines

●      Real-time diagnostics and monitoring

●      Predictive maintenance capabilities

 

In short, it's the kind of flexible, high-speed backbone modern vehicles need—especially as they become more software-defined.

 

To meet the stringent demands of autonomous and safety-critical applications, Ethernet Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) extends the capabilities of standard Ethernet by adding deterministic communication features. TSN enables guaranteed latency and bandwidth for time-critical data flows, such as those required for real-time braking, steering control, and sensor fusion. It also introduces redundancy mechanisms to ensure fail-operational behavior—vital in autonomous driving scenarios where reliability can directly impact safety.

 

Wrapping It Up

Automotive Ethernet and TSN provide the bandwidth, determinism, scalability, and robustness required for next-generation vehicle architectures.

 

By supporting software-defined functionality, redundancy, diagnostics, and real-time communication, these technologies form the backbone of in-vehicle networks that can meet the future demands of electric and autonomous mobility.

 

They support:

●      Software-defined functionality

●      Real-time communication

●      System redundancy

●      Easy diagnostics and OTA capabilities

 

This technology duo is powering the shift toward more innovative, safer, and more scalable networks in autonomous and electric vehicles.

 

Want to future-proof your vehicle's network architecture?

 

Let's discuss how Excelfore can help you design scalable, secure, high-performance in-vehicle networks.