BMW to Head SEIS Research

The increasing integration of IT elements, as well as Internet solutions into vehicles has determined the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to set up the SEIS, or Security in Embedded IP-based Systems. The project aims to create a security solution for internal and external vehicle networking based on the Internet Protocol.

BMW's Group Research and Technology was named sub-project leader for system software/middleware and was handed the coordination of the project. Together with some 12 other companies, BMW will try and create technologies to reduce the complexity of today's in-vehicle IT architecture, while insuring the operation security of these solutions.

You may wonder why the need for such an endeavor, given the fact that so far, apparently, no one has hacked into any vehicle and made it perform unnatural actions. The answer is very simple. In today's vehicles, computers began controlling all aspects of a vehicle, starting with the common air temperature reading to the more complex and vital stability control.

According to BMW research, up to 70 control units are fitted in premium-class cars, making the need for security even more stringent. The electric and electronic functions performed by those CPUs amount to some one gigabyte of data, data relayed via up to five different bus systems.

The next logical step into in-vehicle IT development, the creation of the IP language for vehicles, will allow the running of essential programs or vehicle safety in real time. SEIS will try and create a "universal security solution for vehicle networking underpinned by IP."

The parties involved in the SEIS project, (including rivals Volkswagen and Daimler) will soon develop prototypes vehicles with an IP-based networking architecture (IP-based cameras, infotainment systems, CE device link-up, control systems and anti-hacker devices).