Although conventional round wire harnesses continue to evolve to support additional electronic content in vehicles, the technology has remained much the same over the last fifty years. Going forward with steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire technologies emerging, can the current wiring harnesses technology cope? What about alternatives such as fibre optics? Matthew Beecham reports.
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It is certainly true that the standard wire harness with round wire cables is a very competitive product. It would be hard to substitute this directly. Although we’re seeing flexible flat cables in the headliner where the packaging space is limited, it is not necessarily the only technology for this application. Josef Schriek, managing director of INTEDIS believes that the real opportunity for new wire technologies are more related to flexible printed circuit boards if additional functional content is part of it. He said: “For example, in the back panel of a front seat you can fit electronics with anti-trap or lighting functions for standard or ambient illumination. These are the kind of integration possibilities that really challenge conventional round wire cable technology.” INTEDIS is a 50/50 joint venture between Hella and Leoni. Headquartered in Wurzburg, Germany, the company designs and manufactures systems for the vehicle’s electrical and electronic distribution system (EEDS).
It is also true that the feature content of new cars is increasing on a daily basis. “About 50% of electrical and electronic comfort and convenience features that are available in a modern car today were simply not around ten years ago,” said Heinrich Hasselbacher, vice president, advanced electronics, technologies and business development, Lear Corp. “Features like multimedia systems, telephones, rear seat entertainment, remote keyless entry and tyre pressure monitoring systems all consume more energy. We must therefore look at novel, cost effective ways in which to integrate those new features. On the one hand, that means we must continually review the EEDS architecture and push back the technical boundaries with innovative integration solutions. On the other hand, we must ensure our costs are kept under control by reusing modules, functionalities, hardware and software parts wherever possible.” Lear’s electronic and electrical systems business design and manufactures electronic systems and components, electrical distribution systems, interior control and entertainment systems, and wireless systems. “One of our main capabilities and strengths is that we are a full service supplier of EEDS,” added Hasselbacher. “We are one of the very few global suppliers who can supply a complete system solution to the OEMs. The increasing complexity of EEDS requires new technical solutions and the integration of power switching with intelligent controls like smart junction boxes, thermo connectors and power fuses. We can offer that. In fact, our ability to continually cut component costs, weight and mass in the EEDS arena is a major reason why OEMs use Lear.”
Yazaki believes that while there is a continuous flow of alternative technologies into the vehicle that allow for reduced circuitry per feature, it can’t keep pace with the number and complexity of features being introduced into today’s cars. “Several years ago, navigation was a high-end option with a less than 5% take rate on 10% of the luxury vehicle market,” said Doug Burcicki, senior manager of marketing and product management, Yazaki North America. “Today you can get this option on cars that sell for well under US$20,000. The same can be said of tire pressure monitoring systems, which was a high-end option and is now a mandated feature for the cars we are designing and developing. Examples like this are endless – there will always be alternatives to traditional wiring, but it is hard for those alternatives to compete on cost, quality, reliability, etc. on a regular basis. For these reasons, the wiring harness will continue to grow in complexity. Of course there are limits to what can physically be packaged in a vehicle, so we must be aware of alternative technologies to address those application specific situations that necessitate alternative solutions. However, many of the solutions come from system level improvements – like multiplexing, partitioning, and routing — not necessarily from unique technologies.” Yazaki is the world’s largest manufacturer of wire harnesses, supplying harnesses to the major vehicle makers worldwide.
Alternative solutions to the traditional wire harness loom include multiplexing, fibre optics and flexible printed circuit boards. Multiplexed systems need fewer wires, thereby reducing bulk and weight. Information is shared rather than duplicated, improving service repair, diagnostics and the flexibility to change options. Fibre optic systems transmit information and data throughout the vehicle for signaling and communication. Claimed advantages of using fibre optics over copper wires include weight saving and higher data quality, reliability and integrity. Not only is it possible to send large volumes of data through the network at the speed of light, it also guarantees excellent electromagnetic compatibility. On the downside, however, fibre optics is more expensive than traditional wire harness technology as it requires more parts to convert electrical signals to light pulses and back again.
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By GlobalDataOver the past few years, a number of industry groups have emerged aimed at developing common standards in the vehicle electrical and electronic arena. For example, AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) was set up by carmakers and automotive equipment manufacturers to develop a standardised international electric/electronic architecture concept for vehicles.
AUTOSAR’s core partners include BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Volkswagen, Toyota and component makers Bosch, Continental and Siemens VDO. Its ‘premium’ members (i.e. without a vote) include Delphi, Denso, Hella, Hitachi, Honda, Infineon, Lear, Magneti Marelli, Mazda, Nissan, Porsche, Renault, Valeo, Visteon, Volvo, ZF, and most recently, Johnson Controls.
The partnership’s objective is to define and establish a standardised software component specification. The process will take into account the interdependencies that arise from a networked environment. This will involve standardising underlying system functions, defining the integration of modules from different manufacturers with their interface and will include the maintenance of electronic parts and upgrades of software during the whole production cycle.
“From a global perspective, AUTOSAR will save resources by avoiding the duplication of development activities and increase the maturity of software functions,” added Schriek. “For competitive functions, however, we must have the right business model which addresses how to deal with functions which are transferred from one company to another. We also have to ensure that the functional integration can take place in a professional way with tested devices that will work in this new environment together with independently developed functions. AUTOSAR is moving in the right direction. Above all, the consortium is driven by different parties with the relevant power. That means there is a kind of sustainability that you don’t very often find in other consortiums.”
Is the industry ultimately moving toward ‘plug-and play’, as seen in the computer industry? Taking the idea of multiplexing to its logical extreme, a carmaker could potentially wait until relatively late in the vehicle’s development cycle before committing to specific electronic hardware yet avoid having to delay – or worse, tear up – its electrical architecture in the last minute. “The automotive industry’s vision is certainly plug and play yet without the negative connotations associated with personal computers,” said Helmut Fennel, responsible for the Competence Centre, Control Systems Software, Continental Automotive Systems. “We must have highly reliable and quality products. The automotive industry is moving more towards the aircraft industry. Yet the problem is that the aircraft industry uses a different cost base. This is the main challenge and the reason we decided to form AUTOSAR. The consortium’s approach is tailored to specifically to automotive design needs. It is not a carbon copy of any former plug and play concept.”
As Continental Automotive Systems’ AUTOSAR’s representative, Fennel’s vision of what AUTOSAR should achieve is a standardised concept for basic software as well as standardised interfaces to the application software. “Basic software is that which is installed in every ECU inside the car. This basic software could be standardised and exchanged between different manufacturers. On top of this basic software there is so-called application software which holds all the functionality. This is where we come across the different OEMs philosophies of a car’s DNA. Of course, that DNA is unique to the OEM and instinctively recognised by the end customer when he/she drives the car. On the other hand, the major opportunity for AUTOSAR is to standardise the things the end customer does not see or care about.”
