Asymmetric Distributed Compute Nodes For Providing Software-Defined Vehicle Functions

1 . A system to provide asymmetric distributed compute nodes in a vehicle for software-defined vehicle functions, the system comprising:

one or more higher-performance compute nodes of the asymmetric distributed compute nodes;

one or more lower-performance compute nodes of the asymmetric distributed compute nodes; and

a communication backbone over which the higher-performance compute nodes and the lower-performance compute nodes communicate;

wherein the one or more higher-performance compute nodes execute first processes for performing a first portion of the software-defined vehicle functions for the vehicle;

wherein the one or more lower-performance compute nodes execute second processes for performing a second portion of the software-defined vehicle functions for the vehicle.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more higher-performance compute nodes and the one or more lower-performance compute nodes include input and output interfaces for interacting with vehicle components.

3 . The system of claim 1 , comprising:

a zonal gateway connected to the communication backbone, wherein a vehicle component is connected to the zonal gateway;

wherein one of the first or second processes controls the vehicle component over the communication backbone via the zonal gateway.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first processes and the second processes are configured to execute on a processing architecture shared by the one or more higher-performance compute nodes and the one or more lower-performance compute nodes.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first processes and the second processes are load balanced across the one or more higher-performance compute nodes and the one or more lower-performance compute nodes.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more lower-performance compute nodes are located remotely in the vehicle from the one or more higher-performance compute nodes.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein a first compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes is physically located closer to vehicle components connected thereto than a second compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein a process of the second processes is executing on the first compute node to interact with one or more of the vehicle components.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a first compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes controls a vehicle component connected thereto in response to an instruction received over the communication backbone.

10 . A method for providing software-defined vehicle functions via asymmetric distributed compute nodes in a vehicle, the method comprising:

identifying first processes for execution on one or more higher-performance compute nodes of the asymmetric distributed compute nodes;

identifying second processes for execution on one or more lower-performance compute nodes of the asymmetric distributed compute nodes;

directing the one or more higher-performance compute nodes to execute the first processes to perform a first portion of the software-defined vehicle functions for the vehicle; and

directing the one or more lower-performance compute nodes to execute the second processes to perform a second portion of the software-defined vehicle functions for the vehicle.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the software-defined vehicle functions interact with vehicle components connected to the one or more higher-performance compute nodes and the one or more lower-performance compute nodes.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein identifying the second processes comprises:

determining the second processes execute properly at a performance level of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein directing the one or more lower-performance compute nodes to execute the second processes comprises:

load balancing the second processes between the one or more lower-performance compute nodes.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein directing the one or more lower-performance compute nodes to execute the second processes comprises:

assigning a process of the second processes to a compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes connected to a vehicle component with which the process interacts.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein directing the one or more lower-performance compute nodes to execute the second processes comprises:

assigning a first instance of a process of the second processes to a first compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes and a second instance of the process to a second compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes, wherein the first instance is active and the second instance is on standby; and

upon the first instance failing, activating the second instance.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein identifying the first processes comprises:

determining at least a portion of the first processes necessitate a performance level of the one or more higher-performance compute nodes.

17 . The method of claim 10 , comprising:

determining that a compute node of the one or more lower-performance compute nodes can no longer handle a process of the second processes; and

reassigning the process to a different compute node of the asymmetric distributed compute nodes.

18 . An apparatus to provide asymmetric distributed compute nodes in a vehicle for software-defined vehicle functions, the apparatus comprising:

one or more microprocessors, wherein the one or more microprocessors execute first processes for performing a first portion of the software-defined vehicle functions for the vehicle;

input and output interfaces connected to vehicle components of the vehicle; and

a network interface connected to a communication backbone to communicate with other compute nodes of the asymmetric distributed compute nodes;

wherein the other compute nodes execute second processes for performing a second portion of the software-defined vehicle functions for the vehicle.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the one or more microprocessors have a lower level of performance than microprocessors of at least one of the other compute nodes.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein a process of the first processes directs the one or more microprocessors to interact with a vehicle component of the vehicle components.