With insights from Lazina Rahman, Don Gunn, John Stih, Daniel Gomez, and Matthew Zajac
In-cabin monitoring can’t happen without connectivity. Once we have our sensors and processors in place, it’s time to make sure they can talk to each other and to the rest of the vehicle’s brains, so that the information can reach the occupants, successfully achieving means of safety and comfort. But how do you ensure that this connection happens consistently, reliably, and how do you guarantee that those networks will remain secure and robust?
To explore that, we dove into the key aspects of focus for connectivity as well as the tried-and-true methods to secure networks.
Key Innovations in Connectivity
Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology is a major area of growth in connectivity, and its integration into in-vehicle applications plays a key role in, for example, rear object detection. This short-range wireless communication protocol can be used to track and identify living beings, such as children or pets, that are left in the backseat, and alert the driver when the doors are locked with someone still inside.
With vehicles becoming smart, connected devices, users can perform all types of tasks from, for example, an app on their phone.
Applications for this range everywhere from remote start or stop, locking or unlocking the vehicle from anywhere, or even real time diagnostics and maintenance alerts, which help for better planning and make it easier for the user to safeguard vehicle health.
Modern vehicles can also offer real time tracking, which can help create another layer of safety and disincentivize theft.
A step further
Further than diagnostics, and alerts, in-vehicle connectivity allows certain manufacturers to attend to those alerts when required by the user. As we’ve seen, there’s a plethora of sensors, processors, and other electronic devices that play an important role in modern vehicles functionality. These can now be accessed and worked on, identifying issues, preparing solutions or even fixing problems before the car reaches the dealership. This capability enhances comfort and convenience for users while reducing downtime for repairs and manufacturing costs.
This, however, raises a new challenge. Now that the car is remotely accessible, how do we make sure it’s only accessed by those we want to access it. In other words: How do we keep hackers out, and ensure secure networks?
Ensuring Robust and Secure Networking Solutions
Opening the door to connectivity in vehicles makes network security crucial. To prevent unauthorized access, communication between vehicles and external networks must be encrypted.
Engineers nowadays count on modern encryption solutions which are solid and robust, requiring immense computational powers to break. In addition, authentication methods can play an important role to further enhance security, ensuring only verified users and devices can have access to a vehicle and its systems. For example, a system sends a random number to a remote device, which must in turn encrypt it correctly and return it to prove its authenticity.
Standardization bodies play an important role in ensuring network security. Organizations like AutoSAR and Evita provide guidelines for automotive OEMs and suppliers to develop secure software.
Suppliers like NXP are prioritizing security by developing secure CAN devices and automotive Ethernet systems with firewall protection to prevent unauthorized access to the network.
Critical systems like brake controls and power steering must always count with added layers of security to ensure they’re not compromised by any remote interactions.
Further than network security, physical security measures also play an important role. Vehicle’s operating system and bootloader must be encrypted and authenticated, as well as any applications running on the vehicle computer. This ensures that even if someone gains physical access to the vehicle, they cannot easily alter or install any malicious software.
Before we move on to our third article in the series, Navigating the challenges of in-cabin monitoring, do you have any transportation projects you’d like to take to the next level?
Send us an email and contact our experts at Future Electronics to get personalized engineering support for all your applications.
