AUTOSAR^® Software Solution

Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR) is a global development partnership between automotive manufacturers, suppliers and tool developers that seeks to create and establish a standardized software architecture for automotive Electronic Control Units (ECUs). The goal of AUTOSAR is to improve the efficiency, scalability and maintainability of software development for automotive ECUs, which are the electronic devices that control various functions of a vehicle such as engine management, chassis control and driver assistance systems.

MCAL is a software module that has direct access to all the on-chip microcontroller (MCU) peripheral modules and external devices, which are mapped to the MCU’s memory. Additionally, it makes the upper layers of software independent of the MCU (the Basic Software Layer, or BSW).

The crypto MCAL supports an embedded Hardware Security Module (HSM), which is available on devices like PIC32CZ CA MCUs and dsPIC33C MPT secure DSCs. We provide MCALs and crypto drivers for PIC32 MCUs and dsPIC33C DSCs that enable them to interface with external devices like the TA100 and TA101.

The HSM and the TA100/TA101 support Message Authentication Code (MAC) generation, data encryption and decryption, trusted firmware updates, multiple key management protocols including Transport Layer Security (TLS), and other root-of-trust-based operations.

For car OEMs, answering the question of whether to adopt AUTOSAR is easy. BMW, Daimler and VW were early advocates of AUTOSAR, but now all OEMs across every region are adopters. Without AUTOSAR, many OEMs struggled to develop increasingly complex vehicles. However, by adopting AUTOSAR, the challenge of complex software development is solved. Car makers only need to create their own high-level application software since the lower layers down to the micro are defined by the standard and can be provided by sub-suppliers.

Instead of being a sophisticated software developer, the car OEM needs only to integrate and certify interoperability. Although the AUTOSAR standard guarantees interoperability, there is no formal conformance test, so OEM liability means they must take ownership. By standardizing the software architecture, car makers can reuse the same software across many vehicle platforms. Hardware variations across different ECUs are managed by the AUTOSAR-specified Microcontroller Abstraction Layer (MCAL). A custom MCAL is required for each MCU to allow any MCU to be integrated into any AUTOSAR software platform.

We offer the following AUTOSAR 4.x.x ASIL B and ASPICE CL2 ( Capability Level 2) MCAL drivers for our AUTOSAR-ready microcontrollers.

The packages for production-ready MCAL drivers are commercially licensed. To learn more about the MCAL packages and licensing model, contact your local sales office for more information.