Success-Plan Services
Mihai Potoceanu
As the traditional model of hardware-centric vehicles gives way to the era of software-defined vehicles (SDVs), software is taking the front seat in driving innovation and competitive advantage. As OEMs race to adopt new system architectures, they are discovering speed bumps in the development cycles as a result of unanticipated complexities.
Developing an SDV is an intricate balancing act: writing, integrating and troubleshooting massive amounts of new code, all while ensuring backwards compatibility with legacy systems. On top of this, every line of code must meet the industry’s rigorous safety and cybersecurity standards. This challenge requires a new approach to vehicle architecture – one that can bridge the gap between old and new, and streamline the integration of diverse components and technologies.
Now, RTI has introduced Connext Drive 4.0, the latest version of our popular automotive communication framework. As the industry's first AI-enhanced SDV-ready communication middleware, Connext Drive is engineered to solve these exact issues.
Based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS™) standard, Connext Drive 4.0 introduces AI capabilities into data-centric middleware. This capability streamlines code development, empowering distributed teams to rapidly write, test and deploy the entire SDV stack, all the way from simulation to production. By simplifying the underlying communication infrastructure, Connext Drive frees up valuable developer time so they can focus on high-value application development.
Connext Drive 4.0 provides a suite of new productivity tools, including the first DDS-based SDV toolchain. It also introduces Automotive Scenarios with common use cases: Zonal Architecture, Simulation and AUTOSAR integration, High Performance Computer (HPC), and Edge to Cloud. To further streamline the process, an advanced AI chatbot is included to diagnose, debug, and even create sample code, leading to increased output with fewer errors.
Connext Drive 4.0 introduces the first DDS-based SDV Toolchain for developers
Connext Drive 4.0 also helps OEMs to meet their safety and security requirements. For functions that demand the highest level of certification, Connext Drive 4.0 includes ISO 26262 ASIL D-certified Connext Cert software to achieve this mandate. This component can be used on its own for pure safety functions or as part of the Connext Drive suite, making it ideal even for mixed-criticality environments. On the security front, new features such as Pre-Shared Key (PSK) protection provide robust protection against external threats and allow for dynamic updates without the need to restart applications. The platform's security is enhanced through domain-trust and topic-trust boundaries, thus creating a fortified system.
The latest version of Connext Drive was developed for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to unify fragmented toolchains into a coherent development environment. Using this approach, innovations created during the early design stages can flow smoothly into production, reducing rework, shortening development cycles, and helping teams deliver software that simply works.
Connext Drive 4.0 will be released on November 20, 2025. For more information, or for a free trial, please visit www.rti.com/drive.
About the author:
Mihai Potoceanu is a Senior Product Manager at RTI with over a decade of experience in the automotive industry. He specializes in intelligent automotive systems through cutting-edge middleware solutions that power next-generation architectures. Mihai plays a key role in driving initiatives in the development of Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), leveraging technologies like Data Distribution Service (DDS) to drive innovation and connectivity. He holds a Master's degree in Analytical and Geometric Modeling Systems.