A Reference Architecture for Infotainment Systems

Paper in proceeding, 2006

Volvo Car Corporation has developed a Reference Architecture for PAG Infotainment Systems. A Reference Architecture is an architecture scoping over more than a single system, i.e., an architecture aimed for a family of systems. The Infotainment Reference Architecture has since 2001 been successfully applied for the PAG family which so far covers the infotainment systems of Volvo XC90, Volvo S40/V50, Jaguar XK, Aston Martin DB9 and the brand new Volvo S80. In 1999, the system design departments started up with the clear objective to develop a system solution aiming for the PAG infotainment system family. The work was carried out according to the established development process at Volvo Cars. A year later a discouraging design review was performed. The number of involved functions, the level of function interaction and the distribution of functionalities between ECUs resulted in a non-manageable system solution. These findings implied that large efforts late in integration phases would be needed and the problem was decided to be tackled upfront. A small architecture team was formed, which after two months rolled-out the "Reference Architecture for PAG Infotainment Systems," defining the strategies and structures addressing the identified problems. This paper gives a detailed description of the technical implementation, usage, evolution and maintenance of the PAG Infotainment Reference Architecture. This paper will also present experiences and lessons learned when working architecture-centric in automotive system development.