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Software-Defined Cars: How MBSE Enables Over-the-Air Evolution

· 7 min read
Blagoje Mrkic
Model based Systems Architect

Welcome back to MBSE Explained! Today, we're diving into one of the most transformative shifts in the automotive industry: the rise of the Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV). Modern cars are no longer just mechanical marvels; they are complex supercomputers on wheels, running on upwards of 300 million lines of code. This explosion in software complexity presents an enormous challenge for traditional development methods. How can automakers manage this digital beast while continuously delivering new features, enhancements, and security patches to customers?

The answer lies in a paradigm shift powered by Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE). By creating a modular, resilient, and evolvable software architecture from the ground up, MBSE provides the blueprint for the car of the future—one that improves over time through seamless Over-the-Air (OTA) updates. In this post, we'll explore why MBSE is the critical enabler for the software-defined automotive ecosystem.