1. SYSTEMS INTEGRATION ACCELERATORS:
PAVING THE WAY
FOR INFOTAINMENT
SYSTEM DELIVERY
Nepolian Rajarathinam
Automotive Project Manager
[ ]
Automotive

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
1 | An Enterprise Information Management Frameworklochbridge.com
Automotive
Systems Integration
Accelerators for Delivering
Infotainment Systems
Content
1 | Intoduction
2 | The Road Ahead
3 | Staying the Course
4 | Efficiency Accelerationors: A Proactive Approach
5 | It’s All About the Process, Incremental Integration
6 | Test Simulation
7 | Tools for Success
8 | Conclusion

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
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Automotive
1 | Introduction
Introduction
What if you could leave all of the actual driving to your car and
be more productive during your commute? Every day automotive
manufacturers are developing a variety of new technologies, including
autonomous vehicle technology, to make drivers more digitally
connected than ever before. As consumer expectations grow for
seamless, completely connected user experiences in all aspects of
their daily lives, the demand for quality in-vehicle infotainment is
growing exponentially.
According to the 2013 GSMA report, the connected car market
is going to grow from $21 billion to $54 billion by 2018. Automakers
will benefit significantly through the close connections their cars
establish with customers. But getting there will require them develop
applications that are more secure, compelling and user-friendly, and
to speed up the product-development cycle to match the speed of the
consumer electronics.
This white paper explores the common challenges faced by IVI teams,
and the benefits of taking a proactive and continuous approach to
systems integration testing, using tools and processes as accelerators
for infotainment system speed to market.
Embedded and mobile tethered car
connectivity solutions are set to reach
almost 50% of cars in 2014.
Source: Analysys Mason 2014
4%
5%
Embedded Mobile device tethered Aftermarket modular
7%
10%
14%
15%
25%
21%
15%
10%
6%
4%
2%
3% 3%
2% 1%
3%
4% 4%5% 5% 5% 5%
1%
29%
27%
35% 34%
42% 41%
48%
2014 2015
% of cars in use that include a connectivity solution,
by solution type, world wide
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
48%

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
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Automotive
2 | The Road Ahead
The Road Ahead
In the not so distant past, in-vehicle infotainment was defined by
the AM/FM radio and CD/Cassette player. Now, cheaper hardware
and rapid growth in consumer electronics bring hands-free calling,
mobile device connectivity, interactive touch screen and navigation
technologies to consumers. Having experienced the features,
convenience and functionality offered by their smartphones, these
shoppers come to the showroom with high expectations for in-vehicle
infotainment systems.
Automakers are scrambling to provide the latest in driver assistance,
safety, entertainment, well-being, vehicle management and
mobility management features using new frameworks, including
V2V (vehicle2Vehicle) and V2I (vehicle2Infrastructure). The pace
of development has been hectic and the automotive industry is
struggling to keep up. This is particularly visible in mobile phone
connectivity: new devices are brought to market so quickly, that
a two-year old car infotainment system may already be obsolete.
When cloud service integration becomes commonplace, infotainment
systems face an even faster evolution.
When a user learns to rely on their in-vehicle infotainment
systems, they expect them to perform as reliably as the rest of
their vehicle does. A modern infotainment system must communicate
with and leverage the user’s mobile devices; e.g., if the user buys a new
mobile phone, the system must cope with the change.
In an environment where disparate
systems need to work cohesively to
provide a reliable user experience,
the right combination of systems
integration processes and tools
is critical to rapid system testing,
certification and production.
Age of respondents
The Age Factor
Complicated
Problems
0 18-44 45-64 65 +
20
40
60
80
Percentwithtrouble
More Systems Have Problems
Ford C-Max Energi
(plug-in hybrid)
Ford Taurus (EcoBoost)
2013
Model years
2012
2011
Subaru BRZ
Ford C-Max Hybrid
Honda Accord Coupe (V6)
Cadillac XTS
Ford Explorer (V6, 4WD)
Ford Escape (2.0L EcoBoost)
Lincoln MKX
Ford Edge (V6)
Ford Edge (2.0L EcoBoost)
Problems rates
Honda Accord Coupe (4-cyl.)
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

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3 | Staying the Course
Staying the Course
Engineering teams within the Infotainment space need to be
equipped to deal with an ever changing consumer electronics
industry that drives consumer demand for a secure, reliable, user
friendly and seamlessly integrated experience across platforms.
Teams have to make sure their products are tested with the
latest mobile, networking and security protocols, and get it done
quickly to stay relevant in the market space. Unlike business app
development teams, IVI team(s) need to deal with the tight interplay
of hardware and firmware components within a vehicle to achieve a
seamlessly integrated IVI product for the consumer.
Some of the common bottlenecks encountered within
the IVI space include:
• Inconsistent connectivity between the Infotainment unit and the
mobile device or the embedded telematics unit.
• Security Issues stemming from utilizing TCP-IP that exposes IVI
systems to DNS and IP packet sequencing vulnerabilities, among
others
• An unstable and dated eco-system
1. Non-standardized apps that fail legal and driver distraction
standard requirements
2. Fragmented /dis-jointed platform integration due to closed
architecture and development environment
3. Longer development life cycle that contributes to out-of-date
hardware compared to app enabled consumer devices
4. Lack of comprehensive CODEC support for all prevailing media
types, creating challenges with media app vendors
Categorization of these defects to determine origination reveals the
efficiency of the testing process and the ability to deliver a quality product
on time. In lieu of a strong SI foundation, the capabilities of IVI teams to
influence a captured vs. escaped defects ratio and to contain early defects
will be poor. This inefficient implementation of functional requirements
during the final test stage causes more damage to a company beyond
cost, including missed critical milestones and lost market opportunities.
Navigation
Mobile
Media
Platform
Firmware
Consumer
Apps
Framework
App Shop
Speech
Rec & TTS

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
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4 | Efficiency Accelerators: A Proactive Approach
Efficiency Accelerators:
A Proactive Approach
The rapidly evolving Infotainment landscape presents
numerous challenges for IVI teams in delivering high quality,
stable and secure infotainment apps.
To achieve their desired goal, IVI teams should invest
in setting up an effective systems integration solution
based on a combination of tools and processes. With a
strong systems integration platform, IVI teams will have the
ability and resources to implement defect phase containment
strategies to successfully meet quality and delivery demands.
Utilizing processes and tools as accelerators to overcome these challenges is no longer an option; it is a necessity. A proactive approach
to testing through automation and tools with a solid integration methodology can help in early defect phase containment, and optimize testing
efforts. This requires an appropriate integration structure: processes and tools that are designed to perform a comprehensive validation and
certification of the IVI eco-system.

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
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5 | It’s All About the Process, Incremental Integration
It’s All About the Process
Automakers rely upon their tried and tested manufacturing
process; however, software development is still going through its
growing pains, resulting in compliance issues and deviations.
With respect to automotive technology, having a well thought
out development process is a fundamental building block on
which IVI teams can expand upon to achieve their desired
goals. Well-defined technical and business requirements that are
both accurate and non-ambiguous are vital for integration testing.
Once the process and requirements for quality are established,
the IVI certification teams should consider techniques to help
achieve efficiencies through proactive test procedures including
incremental integration and test simulation.
Incremental Integration
Traditional testing methodologies bring all integration points
together for an end-to-end testing, often called a “Big Bang”
approach, as part of the software development lifecycle. This type
of testing brings a sudden surge of test scenarios at the very end of
the release cycle, and impacts the tested vs. passed percentage. It
also increases the project risk by deferring it to the very end, and
significantly impacts project cost.
Implementing a test strategy that controls incremental
integration of components helps in containing cost overruns.
One way to achieve this goal is by breaking down the
requirements into their constituent parts to aid generating
granular test requirements at their various levels (functional,
integration, business process and full systems levels). This
approach helps both development and certification teams in
planning a controlled release schedule. Controlled granular
release aids in the rapid isolation of defects and compartmentalizes
issues to their constituent parts.

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6 | Test Simulation
Test Simulation
In a simulated test, a real component is replaced by a simulated
component(s), sometimes called a “test harness or stub”. A proactive test
plan should take advantage of simulations to allow various functions
and features to be simulated and tested more easily. Component level
simulation helps in emulating missing dependencies and provides ways
to test expected system behavior. A simulated approach also enables
certification teams to provide an upstream defect feedback loop on potential
bugs, and plays a crucial role in defect containment. For example, IVI
systems has a media component to service infotainment apps, a media
simulator test harness that helps in validating supported CODEC set and
provides feedback to the platform development team, thus identifying
CODEC issues early to avoid costly fixes later in the certification chain.
Performing an assessment of critical integration points both inside
and outside the scope of change will help in identifying simulation
candidates. Availability of functional components and development delays
are a considerable risk. Proactive test coverage using component level
simulation can provide the needed agility to align to schedule changes. As
components get delivered, the simulated component can be swapped out
and testing can continue as planned.
A thorough understanding of the technological and business risks, as
derived from effective requirements management, can help IVI certification
teams prioritize simulations in the most effective manner.
Gained Cost Efficiencies Utilizing Accelerators
Defects Count With Standard Process
Defeat Count With Accellerators
Cost to Fix
DefectsCount
CosttoFix
Coding Testing Integration Testing End-To-End

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
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7 | Tools for Success
IVI Certification:
What’s in your Tool Box?
The infotainment space faces an ever-growing number of standards
and protocols that are in place for audio and video broadcast, global
navigation, cellular network communication, and external device
connectivity. As the number of standards continues to rise, so do new
challenges to implement features consumers expect. In this scenario, IVI
systems must be validated under each standard individually, forcing a
test certification team for new tools.
In order to succeed, however, Infotainment systems must work
as a cohesive whole and not in parts. In the current scenario, teams
are known to enjoy short term success in delivering fully functioning
individual components, but struggle to see them work as part of the eco-
system. Processes tied to incremental integration and simulation-based
testing provide a strong foundation for certification teams; however, there
are still gaps that can be filled only by using specialized tools to respond
to evolving market changes.
Outside of the known benefits in employing test tools in the traditional
sense, IVI teams have a unique set of challenges related to the
amalgamation of hardware and software at different levels within
the vehicle. Adopting the recommended tools, one stands to gain
extraordinary visibility into the complex integration fault lines that can
be traced only through help of low level data capture. Eventually teams
stand to see an increase in the defect find rate and to ultimately achieve a
higher release quality.
Some of the key tools that certification teams
should consider are:
• Mobile connectivity (RSSI and Data bandwidth)
• Platform API validator (Rapidly validate platform API
compliance to the defined specification)
• Media (Validate audio/video CODEC support against media
specification)
• Text-To-Speech (Validate diction and pacing for clarity and
accuracy)
• Remote Radio Test (Ability to perform remote vehicle
diagnosis of IVI apps)
• Code Analyzers (Identify code complexity and change levels)
• Bench marking (Web Standard Compliance & Browser
render speed)
An IVI certification team should be provided with seamless access to
these tools from the cloud with an ability to view, analyze and report
test results on-demand. It is imperative that IVI teams adopt a new
testing strategy based on a combination of processes and tools as
accelerators to help them successfully manage, change and deliver
quality Infotainment systems on time. Among the many benefits of
using these tools, visibility into telemetric challenges and media CODEC
gives a certification team a tremendous defect containment advantage.
At the current rate of growth predicted within the connected vehicle
space, the complexity of IVI systems will continue to increase to meet
ever growing consumer demands. Adopting these accelerators to
gain efficiencies by identifying and fixing issues early is becoming
increasingly important.

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Systems Integration Accelerators For Delivering Infotainment Systems
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8 | Conclusion & About the Author
Nepolian Rajarathinam is a 19 year IT veteran
with a passion for driving efficiencies & effective
solution delivery utilizing process and tools as a
fundamental building blocks. An accomplished
management professional, he has worked with
Fortune 1000 companies and local government
in various capacities with a proven track record
of harnessing technology to provide customer solutions and gaining
efficiencies through process automation. Nepolian has a master degree
in Information systems and industry recognized certifications in process
improvement and management.
About Us
Lochbridge integrates and advances the technology that powers some
of the world’s largest businesses and brands. Lochbridge develops
technology strategies that drive growth; delivers systems that are the
backbone of enterprises worldwide; and transforms businesses through
emerging technologies, including mobile, machine-to-machine (M2M)
and Big Data analytics. For four decades, Lochbridge has delivered the
quality and reliability that our customers rely upon while ensuring their
technology continues to elevate their businesses.
Please visit lochbridge.com for more information.
About the AuthorConclusion
The inherent complexity of IVI systems creates a host of issues, starting
with scheduling and technical challenges, that can be extremely
disruptive to integration testing and certification; and carefully planned
release schedules are fraught with dependencies and assumptions.
Adopting a proactive testing strategy (Incremental granular testing
and simulations) with the right combination of tools can isolate as many
dependencies as possible early on in the process. By the time a full
end-to-end functionality has been created for testing, the functional,
integration and business-process-level testing would have been
executed many times over.
IVI teams stands to benefit a well-defined process that adheres to
incremental granulated testing, uses simulations and tools as defect
containment methods and spends less time performing costly end-to-
end testing and missed deadlines. Utilizing tools with the capability of
diagnosing, capturing, storing and analyzing test results in the cloud
provides unprecedented access and visibility into the tested quality of
the system and the needed confidence for a management team at all
release levels.