# A Perspective on Ethernet in Automotive Communications--Current Status and Future Trends
## 7 Concluding Remarks and Future Trends  
The transition from hardware-defined cars to software-defined cars is in progress, and the TSN standards are unanimously indicated as the technology enablers for in-car networks to perform dynamic configuration according to context [75; 76; 77; 78]. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a network architecture that decouples forwarding from network control to leave a freedom of choice in programming the forwarding logic [79], and its application to Ethernet switches has already proven to be quite effective [80; 81]. In the upcoming \"age of services\", as opposed to the current \"age of functions\", the functions of the car relevant to automated driving, connectivity, and personalization will be implemented in software and activated according to the driver's needs. Today, Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) technologies already enable carmakers to perform remote maintenance and updates through software downloads from a cloud-based server throughout the entire life cycle of the car. In the future, software-defined cars will be able to manage operations, add functionalities, and enable new features through software updates.  
Other developments that will leverage the TSN standards concern the increasing autonomy level of the automated driving services provided in mass production cars. Anticipated market trends show that, while low volumes of commercial vehicles are expected to implement fully autonomous driving (i.e., L5) and their usage will be mainly limited to delivery services, L3/L4 automated driving will be fostered in high volumes of consumer cars. In particular, such vehicles will implement the \"autonomous driving on demand\" paradigm, according to which the car will be able to switch to autonomous driving along driver-defined paths.  
The introduction of high-performance computing platforms that perform on-board processing for automated driving applications progressively turns cars into \"computers on wheels\". A rich set of computing platforms are expected to characterize the automotive market. Very high-end microcontrollers with embedded non-volatile memory will be used to support the hard real-time requirements of the powertrain, body, chassis, and safety functions. Automotive microcontrollers optimized for electric vehicle (EV) control applications will leverage TSN to address the needs of zonal vehicle electrical/electronic (E/E) architectures in the next-generation EVs. Mid or high-end microprocessors will serve zonal architecture, merging real-time processing, AI, and gateway functions. High-end computing platforms will be used to support ADAS and in-car infotainment, while very high-end vision processors and AI engines will serve the highest levels of autonomous driving.  
Conceptualization, L.L.B.; methodology, L.L.B.; investigation, L.L.B., G.P., L.L.; software, G.P.; writing--original draft preparation, L.L.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the Italian Ministry of Research through the PRIN 2017 Program, Project SPHERE--Software architecture for Predictable HEterogeneous REal-time systems, project number 20172 NNB4T.  
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The data underlying this article will be shared on reasonable request from the corresponding author.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.  
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript: