Software - Standardization

"Standards make software cheaper," says Reinhold Achatz, head of Siemens Corporate Technology’s Software & Engineering division and Vice President of the OPC Foundation, a non-profit international standards organization that promotes open software standards in the automation industry. "I’m not talking about ten or 20 %. I’m talking about a factor 10 to 100 in savings over the long run, not to mention improvements in development speed, competitiveness, quality and efficiency."

He explains that a combination of increasingly standardized development tools, growing libraries of software components, standardized application interfaces and much more are making it easier to produce increasingly complex software packages of higher quality at greater speeds. "Just look at the cost of software development ten or 20 years ago. We have certainly cut costs by a factor of between ten and 100—otherwise it would be impossible to implement a new cell phone generation with the speed we have today," says Achatz.

Cars: Accelerated Innovation. Since software is becoming one of the dominant cost factors in all areas of industry, the cost of its development can change the economics of entire industries while offering consumers higher quality, more convenience and more services at less cost. That’s becoming increasingly true for the automotive sector. According to Hans-Georg Frischkorn, head of system architecture and integration at BMW, "Around 35 to 40 % of the added value of our cars is determined by electronics and software." (See  Facts and Forecasts) He explains that the most important factors affecting automotive software development costs are standardization, open systems architecture and reusability of software application system components.

With a view to cutting costs in these interrelated areas, the key players in the automotive and electronics industries are developing AUTOSAR (Automotive Open System Architecture)—a standardized software platform architecture that will make it easy to add and reuse software components. Typically, when new hardware, such as a microcontroller, is added to a model group, existing software has to be updated to accommodate it. "That one software modification can cost millions of euros," explains Dr. Michael Golm, a member of Siemens’ part of the AUTOSAR partnership. "The new standard could obviate that."

In addition, AUTOSAR, which is expected to be implemented in 2008, will make it possible for automotive manufacturers to cut costs by mixing and matching software from different suppliers. And the new open system environment will open the door to accelerated introduction of innovations, better diagnostics and lower maintenance costs.

Install electric blinds, a security system or a networked stereo system based on UPnP technology and these systems will automatically be recognized by your favorite interface device—a TV, phone or tablet PC. All you’ll need is home automation software in a set-top box or other "Internet Gateway Device." This will automatically establish a seamless network, allowing the gateway device to read standardized identification signals from every UPnP device in the home. The signals will be transmitted wirelessly or over the home’s electric lines—so-called powerline communication—meaning that no extra wiring or programming will be necessary. Switch on your TV or access your home remotely, and you’ll have an overview of the status of every electronic device.

But the new technology will usher in much more than just an advanced remote control scenario. Thanks to UPnP’s standardized architecture and device access protocol, it will allow appliances to communicate with one another. That can have significant implications for energy use. With some countries switching to variable electricity rates, a heating system could, for instance, wait for a washing machine to complete its cycle before switching on in order to avoid triggering a higher rate.

But software standardization goes well beyond the home and automotive environments. In fact, it goes right to the heart of how software is produced. Major efforts are underway to harmonize the "tools"—programs that govern processes such as error detection, diagnostics, editing and testing—that researchers use to develop and maintain software. "Harmonization in this area is helping to accelerate development, improve accuracy and share the burden of licensing costs," says Rainer Ersch, a Siemens software engineer with special responsibility for company-wide software tool harmonization, as well as tool coordination with IBM Rational.

His words are echoed by Oliver Fendt, a software architect in charge of Siemens’ Linux Corporate Competence Center. Fendt says that "New features such as networking and built-in security are being developed so quickly that adding them to proprietary operating systems costs too much and is far too slow. But with the Linux kernel, which is available under the open source General Purpose License (GPL) and offers a full range of state-of-the-art features, we can save millions in licensing for embedded software and can develop valuable synergies by sharing newly developed code that runs on a common embedded operating system platform."

The so-called "open source" discussion is also in full swing at Siemens’ giant PSE software subsidiary in Vienna, Austria. "Major companies see established operating systems as being too slow to react to security threats," says Thomas Eitzenberger, head of a center of competence for mobile applications at PSE. He points out that as applications become increasingly networked—and thus subject to attack—more and more customers are requesting Linux-based solutions.

Spurred by the explosive increase in networked applications and the related need to allow applications from different companies to "talk to each other," software developers are increasingly turning to Java as a standard programming language and platform. Like a skilled diplomat, Java can smooth over the difference between parties. "If you write an application for Windows, it can only run on Windows," explains Marquart C. Franz, who has played an important role in guiding development of the standard, as the Siemens representative on the Java Executive Committee. "But," he adds, "if you write an application for Java, it can run on a Windows system, a Linux system or just about any other platform. The user will not see a difference. But for developers, the choice is simple."

Obviously, for a company like Siemens, with some 30,000 software developers, broad-based implementation of Java could translate into enormous improvements in productivity. Add in a hefty dash of Linux, several heaping spoonfuls of AUTOSAR and UPnP, prepare with a gleaming set of standardized tools, and the company—not to mention the world economy—could have a recipe for an efficiency revolution.

Arthur F. Pease