CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 53

CTO STRAIGHT TALK | ISSUE 3

UNDERSTANDING THE
SOFTWARE-DEFINED CAR
In the future, car makers won't simply sell you,
say, a 2020 Toyota Prius or Cadillac Escalade.
They'll sell you a version of the vehicle that
will be continually updated and improved via
wireless software releases. That will require a
completely different mindset from the sell-itand-forget-about-it approach that, warranties
notwithstanding, is the way people generally
think about cars today. The automaker will be
along for the ride with the customer during the
entire product lifecycle, continuously improving
the product through software updates-
because, as anyone in Silicon Valley knows,
software is always evolving.
Servicing the software-defined car will involve
much more than a regular oil change. Although
providing over-the-air software updates for
automobiles may sound relatively simple-we
get software updates for our cell phones all the
time-it's actually quite complex.
On the road, even vehicles of the same make,
model and year may have different software
and hardware components, depending on
what's happened to them over time. Maybe
the car was repaired and given new parts.
Perhaps new software was added. Today,
there are roughly 7,200 microprocessors in the
average car, from a wide variety of vendors.
The cars being designed today will benefit
from improved software available by the
time they hit the road in 2018. Bits and bytes
have become as important as pistons and
powertrains.
When a vehicle is ready for a software update,
you have to first understand its current makeup.
Over-the-air software companies like Movimento
collect the VIN number in order to first build
an accurate picture of all the systems in the
automobile. While some service providers may
be able to update certain on-board systems, we
are able to collect data and update software
from numerous suppliers for the entire vehicle,
which we view as one big system.
Understanding the makeup of each vehicle
is just the beginning. Auto industry followers

may recall Tesla's announcement early last year
that it could shave 0.1 seconds off the already
speedy Tesla P85D's zero-to-60 acceleration
via an over-the-air software update. We are
working to enable that type of capability for
automakers that don't currently have the
"supercomputer on wheels" architecture that
Tesla does.
Drivers will be able to customize infotainment
apps and diagnose mechanical problems
without putting their vehicles in drive. They'll
be able to make improvements to their
vehicles-for example, modifications that boost
gas mileage or control emissions to meet new
state-specific regulations-without having to
take their car into a dealer. They won't wait for
next year's model to get the improved product;
they'll wait for the next software update.
But updates sent to millions of cars are only
half the story. Every time a software-connected
car hits a pothole on a New York City street or
travels through the Texas Hill Country, a vast
amount of data will be collected and stored.
This creates a bi-directional data flow, in which
a data agent in our platform gathers vehicle
diagnostics and other information and sends
it back in the other direction. This capability
lets us deliver detailed analytics about vehicle
performance and status to our OEM customers.
With this data, car makers can react in real
time in order to make their vehicles better
serve drivers. Examining this diagnostic
info, manufacturers can see how their cars
are being used, which can feed a continual
improvement process to develop new features
that customers want.
Examining this data over time will also allow
automakers to build better vehicles, as well
as refine the software delivered to all existing
vehicles in subsequent updates. Ultimately, the
feedback will enable customization of software
for an individual vehicle based on its use-
the geography, climate, and road conditions
in which it is driven, or even the skill and
individual driving style of its owner.

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CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3

Contents
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Cover1
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Cover2
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 1
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Contents
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 3
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 4
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 5
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 6
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 7
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 8
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 9
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 10
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 11
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 12
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 13
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 14
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 15
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 16
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 17
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 18
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 19
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 20
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 21
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 22
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 23
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 24
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 25
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 26
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 27
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 28
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 29
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 30
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 31
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CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 53
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CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 55
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 56
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CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 62
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 63
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 64
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - 65
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 3 - Cover4
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue4
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue3
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue2
https://magazine.straighttalkonline.com/cto/issue1
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