Development of a Functional and Logical Reference System Architecture in Automotive Engineering

The automobile is evolving from a mechanically dominated to a cyber-physical, software-defined system. Future complex functionalities, such as autonomous driving, require multidisciplinary, interconnected systems. Hence, interdisciplinary architecture development based on Systems Engineering principles becomes essential, leading to a methodology for vehicle system architecture with the RFLP-Framework. For its application in the automotive industry, building upon the established mechanical and electronical platform approaches, the methodology incorporates the concept of a Reference System Architecture. This is defined as a basic architecture that sets out the common architectural specifications to support the efficient and systemic interdisciplinary architecture development across multiple projects. Its corresponding characteristics and quality criteria are defined and the understanding of the functional and logical reference architecture view, based on the RFLP-Framework, is described. Based on this understanding, an exemplary functional and logical Reference System Architecture for passenger vehicles is proposed. Its methodical user-oriented and knowledge-based development within the scientific circumstances is discussed and concluded.