Future needs for automotive electronics

Remarkable efforts have been made in the development of integrated circuits, mostly driven by the demands of the computer and telecommunications industries. Subsequent to this rapid development, it was easy to meet the comparatively low requirements of automotive applications. This was because our requirements in the past were at least two development steps behind. We first started with separate electronic control units in 1970. Since 1980, we designed conventional systems connected by a network which “consumes” a lot of wiring. The next step was to substitute the large amount of wiring with a simple bus system. This was also the start of the in-house electronic development in 1985. Presently and since 1990, we have a bus system with fewer electronic modules, each with its own sub-bus. It should be noted that car wiring is a very attractive cost factor for us, which means an economic question. From a cost standpoint, we have to consider electronic against wiring-harness. The author discusses whether the current large scale integration is sufficient for future automotive electronics. The very simple answer is no. The following areas are considered: applications that make do with the current large scale integration with regard to automotive demands; and applications with new requirements governed by mechanical demands