RTI Announces ‘Connext Drive’ Real-Time Data Communication Platform for SDV

RTI (Real-Time Innovations), a data streaming company for intelligent distributed systems, today announced its data-centric connectivity architecture strategy for the era of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and its vehicle communication platform, ‘Connext Drive®’.

Smart Cars… Real-Time Data Communication as a Core Competitive Advantage

The global automotive industry is undergoing a paradigm shift from a component-centric hardware architecture to a ‘software-defined vehicle (SDV)’ architecture where software determines the functionality and value of the vehicle.

As advanced technologies such as autonomous driving (ADAS), in-vehicle artificial intelligence (AI), ‘Zonal Architecture’ which groups and integrally controls electrical and electronic equipment by zone, and real-time internet connectivity services (connected cars) are integrated into a single vehicle, a ‘neural network’ communication infrastructure that enables the numerous computers and control units inside the vehicle to exchange massive amounts of data in real-time without delay and securely has become essential.

To solve this problem, RTI provides a platform utilizing DDS (Data Distribution Service™), a data-centric communication standard technology. This technology features a structure where data senders and receivers are automatically connected to the necessary data without needing to know each other’s location. In particular, it is optimized for vehicle networks as it is equipped with management functions (QoS, Quality of Service) that allow fine-grained control over transmission speed and priority based on data importance.

Combining DDS and TSN: Implementing Ultra-Precision Vehicle Communication with Error-Free, Perfect Timing

In this announcement, RTI introduced a ‘Deterministic Communication’ strategy that combines its software connectivity technology (DDS) with TSN (Time-Sensitive Networking), a next-generation vehicle network technology, to ensure that data reliably arrives within a specified time on in-vehicle networks.

TSN is a hardware standard technology that clears the path for critical data on vehicle Ethernet networks to be transmitted within a specified time without being blocked. RTI combines the flexible data exchange technology at the software level (DDS) with the time control technology at the hardware level (TSN) in a dual-layer architecture.

Using this approach, seamless and safe communication can be guaranteed even in dangerous situations (mission-critical) where extremely small time errors in milliseconds (ms, one-thousandth of a second) could lead to major accidents, such as autonomous driving, remote vehicle operation, or real-time synchronization between the vehicle and the cloud. This is because even when general data traffic like audio or video is heavily congested, data flows directly related to life, such as brake or steering control, are separated and controlled so they cannot be disrupted.

Connext Drive: A Safety Solution Validated by 2 Million Vehicles on Roads Worldwide

RTI’s vehicle communication platform, ‘RTI Connext Drive’, is currently installed in more than 2 million vehicles on roads worldwide, where its performance has been validated. More than 25 global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have adopted it for software-defined vehicle development, and notably, more than 50% of the global top 10 EV startups are using this platform.

Connext Drive connects everything from high-performance computers (HPCs) that serve as the vehicle’s brain, to smart cockpits (digital instrument clusters), and peripheral device control into one unified domain, and has passed safety and cybersecurity standards in the automotive sector through the global certification body (TÜV SÜD).

The key advantages of Connext Drive are as follows:

• Connecting Legacy and Latest Architectures: It helps seamlessly transition existing systems used in conventional vehicles to the latest SDV architecture without complex custom code modifications.

• Ensuring Consistency from Simulation to Mass Production: Software code used for testing with virtual computers (simulation) can be reused without modification all the way through to the mass production stage of building actual vehicles, significantly reducing development time and costs.

• AI-Based Advanced Development Tools (Connext Drive 4.0): As the industry’s first, it is equipped with development tools and a standard toolchain supporting AI-based development automation, test automation, and operational monitoring, increasing productivity so that development teams scattered around the world can collaborate quickly and efficiently even remotely.

• Support for Full Vehicle Domain Integration: It covers communication across all domains required for software-defined vehicles, including zonal control, high-performance computing (HPC), vehicle-to-cloud connectivity, and simulation environments.

• Full Compatibility with Global Standards: It integrates directly with or is fully compatible with AUTOSAR (Classic and Adaptive), the open vehicle software standard, and the Robot Operating System (ROS 2), maximizing development convenience.

Global Application Cases: Global Market Expansion Including Adoption Across All XPENG Models in China

RTI Connext Drive has already been applied to more than 250 autonomous driving programs worldwide, proving its technological capabilities. In particular, XPENG, a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company, has adopted Connext Drive as its core communication technology for all its vehicle models scheduled for release in 2026 to implement its next-generation electrical and electronic vehicle architecture. XPENG evaluated Connext Drive as having high reliability and flexibility already validated in production environments, and as a platform suitable for implementing integrated vehicle architectures.

RTI emphasized that the common pain points many automakers face when transitioning to software-defined vehicles—▲securing interoperability between platforms such as Android, Linux, QNX, and AUTOSAR ▲implementing high-performance, real-time data communication ▲code reuse across development stages ▲simultaneously securing functional safety and cybersecurity—can be resolved through Connext Drive’s ‘data-centric architecture’.