August 09, 2023 -  Continental’s new virtual Electronic Control Unit Creator (vECU Creator) will help to create vECUs by which automotive vehicle developers, suppliers and third parties will be able to configure and run virtual cloud-based electronic control units in their specific development environments to help develop code for micro-controller and processor hardware that does not exist yet. The vECU Creator, which expands our toolbox for automotive software development, is a part of the Continental Automotive Edge (CAEdge) framework that runs on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.  

The usage of cloud-based vECUs enables faster, more efficient and agile creation of new applications or software features for software-defined vehicles (SDV) by OEMs. That allows future developments to be tested and debugged continuously by engineers within the cloud, at the same time as hardware development and production cycles. The virtual ECU Creator brings together Continental’s high-performance computers, and Electronic Control Units, with Elektrobit’s production-proven software for Classic and Adaptive AUTOSAR.  

Continental and AWS have been collaborating since 2021 and have a Strategic Collaboration Agreement. AWS is Continental’s preferred cloud provider for vECU Creator and its services, based on the CAEdge framework. CAEdge is a modular hardware and software framework which connects the vehicle to the cloud and features a virtual workbench offering numerous options to help automakers develop, supply and maintain software-based system functions. This allows a high degree of individualization during the entire life-cycle of their vehicle by downloading quick and convenient software updates.