Sunnyvale, Calif., December 7, 2023 – Sonatus, a leading automotive software company accelerating the transition to software-defined vehicles (SDVs), today announced the Sonatus Software-Defined Component (SDC) Solution. Consisting of in-vehicle and cloud software, the Sonatus SDC Solution helps automakers turn any electronic component in a vehicle into a software-defined component. Through targeted data collection and dynamic automation, the Sonatus SDC Solution allows OEMs and suppliers to monitor, test, and optimize components without complex over-the-air (OTA) updates, at any point in the vehicle lifecycle. The Sonatus SDC Solution is available for production usage in Q1 2024 and builds on the deployment of the Sonatus Vehicle Platform in over 1 million vehicles to date.
Four out of five drivers say they want their vehicles to adapt to the driving environment dynamically; however, today, ongoing tuning is often limited to only a handful of key vehicle controllers and requires difficult software validation as part of a larger OTA update.1 This solution enables OEMs to deploy tunable components across the vehicle, allowing them to be continuously monitored and configured, including dynamically adapting to driving conditions, achieving the full potential of SDVs. Ongoing tuning is especially critical in electric vehicles, where efficiency optimizations are invaluable to maximize vehicle range, and every vehicle subsystem is expected to monitor and optimize its energy consumption.
“Sonatus is at the forefront of accelerating vehicle software innovation, and with our SDC Solution, we are providing a holistic offering that lets automotive manufacturers and suppliers achieve the full promise of SDVs,” said Jeff Chou, CEO and co-founder, Sonatus. “Introducing optimization capabilities into the vehicle through software-defined components will help automakers get more software-defined cars on the roads with the consumer promise of a ‘smart’ vehicle that dynamically adjusts to different conditions.”
Built on the foundation of Sonatus Collector for targeted data collection and Sonatus Automator for dynamic automation, the SDC Solution delivers a closed-loop system for continuous improvement. Sonatus Collector runs in the vehicle and in the cloud to facilitate precise, configurable data capture. In the cloud, as is the case with partner AWS, the data is aggregated and analyzed, enabling the component vendor to identify and modify operating parameters that improve over time and best suit different situations. Finally, Sonatus Automator deploys updates back to the vehicle from the cloud to tune and update the component.
Attendees at CES 2024 will have an opportunity to see the Sonatus SDC Solution live in action, with show floor demonstrations of these two collaborations:
- Sonatus has partnered with LG Innotek, a leading company in the global materials and components industry, and has been working with cloud leader AWS to demonstrate how a tunable motor can be optimized through this solution and the closed-loop optimization it provides.
- Sonatus has partnered with leading automotive technology supplier Plastic Omnium to demonstrate how the SDC solution can dynamically reconfigure exterior vehicle lighting and external screens, including automatically displaying warnings to other drivers based on conditions and hazards without the need for driver intervention.
“We are extremely pleased to partner with Sonatus to bring our software-defined component to the market,” said Kim Minkyu, Vice President, LG Innotek. “Using Sonatus’ SDC solution and our software-tunable motor, we can deliver an industry-leading solution that we can continually optimize over time to add ongoing value for our OEM customers.”
“SDVs offer many powerful benefits. The ability to continually optimize and improve components to increase efficiency and performance, while reducing costs, can deliver compelling advantages for continuous innovation,” said Stefano Marzani, Worldwide Tech Leader, Software-Defined Vehicles, AWS. “AWS helps provide many of the crucial components to enable this closed-loop optimization, including data storage, advanced data analytics, machine learning, and flexible compute solutions optimized for automotive applications.”
“The automotive industry is undergoing a profound transformation, and partnerships are key to driving innovation,” said Alexandre Corjon, EVP Innovation and Software, Plastic Omnium. “Working with Sonatus and applying the new SDC solution to increasingly intelligent automotive lighting is a differentiator we can offer to OEMs, resulting in dynamic and automatic changes in external lighting for improved safety and greater functionality for their vehicles.”
“Many of the conversations we have with our automotive partners focus on two needs: creating tools to support continuous product delivery and reducing the cost to develop and deploy these products,” said Alex Oyler, director at SBD Automotive, a global automotive research firm. “With over 600 million vehicles on the road within the United States, Europe, and China having over-the-air update capability by 2032, OEMs can create massive impact through optimizations and enhancements through software-defined components.”
Find Sonatus at CES in West Hall, booth #4325. For more information about Sonatus at CES or to arrange a meeting, please visit https://www.sonatus.com/ces-2024.
1 – Survey commissioned by Sonatus and conducted by Wakefield Research (November 2023)
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About Sonatus
Sonatus is accelerating vehicle software innovation and the transition towards software-defined vehicles. The diverse products comprising the Sonatus Vehicle Platform serve as the key building blocks that allow automotive companies and their ecosystem to fast forward to the future of mobility and deliver continuous improvements in costs, capabilities, reliability, and user experience over the vehicle lifespan. Sonatus’ award-winning software platform is in mass production in over 1 million vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis today and will grow to millions of cars by 2024. The company has raised more than $110 million USD with world-class automotive, technology, and venture investors including Foxconn, Hyundai Motor Group’s Kia Corporation, LG Electronics, Marvell, NEC and Translink Orchestrating Future Fund, SAIC Capital, Translink Capital, UMC Capital, and Wanxiang. Sonatus is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA (Silicon Valley), with offices in Dublin, Paris, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, and Tokyo. Sonatus is a trademark of Sonatus, Inc. For more information visit www.sonatus.com.