Degradable on-chip safety controller with intra-chip communication for steer-by-wire systems

High reliability and high availability are essential aspects for all critical elements used in automotive applications. This is particularly true for control and steering systems. In this regard, numerous steer by wire (x-by-wire) concepts were developed over the years. Most of them considered only standard single microcontroller system architectures with a low degree of reliability according to international reliability and safety standards. This paper presents a novel concept for a degradable safety controller for steer-by-wire systems. Based on a safety-related 1004-architecture, the presented concept offers higher safety, reliability and availability.