Automobiles have come a long way since Henry Ford’s massed-produced
Model T rolled off the assembly line in 1908. Cars have gone from
‘horseless’ to ‘driverless’ in just over a
century. Today, the electronics systems make them state-of-the-art, but also
vulnerable. Special devices called ‘gateways’ are needed for
security, safety and efficiency and NXP is leading the race to enable the
best automotive gateway solutions.
An automotive gateway is a central hub that securely and reliably
interconnects and processes data across a range of vehicle networks. It
provides physical isolation and protocol translation to route data between
data-sharing functional domains, enabling new features. A gateway’s
main function is to provide safe and secure communications between networks
and ECUs (electronic control units). This includes linking the
vehicle’s many internal networks and ctaernal networks. The seamless
transfer of data is essential to ensure ECUs have the necessary information
for a vehicle to operate smoothly and safely.
Automotive Gateway Bridges Functional Domains and Heterogenous Vehicle
Networks
Gateways also allow engineers to design more robust and functional vehicle
networks that can make the driving experience even easier and more
comfortable. The greater design possibilities are what make gateways so
attractive to car manufacturers because it allows them to create new features,
distinguishing themselves from the competition. NXP is the world leader in
gateway processors and In-Vehicle Networking (IVN), providing about half of
all network connections found in a new car.
As it is at the heart of vehicle networks, a gateway is
also ideal to support vehicle-wide applications, such as
Over-the-Air (OTA) updates
and vehicle analytics with secure communications to OEM servers (cloud). The
few vehicles that support OTA updates today typically only update the
infotainment or telematics systems. But OTA updates through a gateway, which
interfaces with all vehicle functional domains, allow OEMs to remotely
fix/prevent vehicle problems, address security vulnerabilities and enable new
features that improve the user experience and can generate
revenue. NXP has optimized gateway processors to support
efficient and flexible OTA updates.
Over-The-Air Updates Provide Real-Time Application Updates and Perform
Predictive Analytic Reports
NXP is also deeply involved in developing
security solutions
because automotive networks can be vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Hackers could
extract assets such as private information or cryptographic keys, or impair a
vehicle’s operation by exploiting implementation vulnerabilities. These
security risks can be reduced by NXP’s Secure Gateway; a comprehensive,
multi-layer approach for automotive security, which acts as a firewall for
external interference. NXP’s Secure Processing layer’s many
features include; secure boot and real-time integrity checking schemes to
guarantee code is authentic (trusted and unaltered), an embedded Hardware
Security Module for cryptography and secure key management and much more to
ensure a vehicle’s safety and integrity.
The next trend in automotive solutions is the move to multi-gigabit Ethernet
for internal networking, and eventually as a linchpin for communications
between domains. NXP is leading the way to enable next-generation automotive
gateways with optimized solutions.
