International VDI-Conference - Automotive Data Communication 2026

• Centralized SDV architectures shift E/E functions into SoCs
• Chipmakers must enable transparency, not proprietary lock-in
• Efficiency depends on platforms, tools, and ecosystems 

Frédéric Ameye, Head of Software Architecture, Renesas Electronics

• HPCs: the brains of modern vehicles
• Zonal ECUs: transparent gateways or smart mediators?
• The edge: indispensable mechatronic servants (off the shelf?)
• Connectivity: A car‘s window to the outside world 

Alexander Haliulin, Senior Product Management Engineer, Vector Informatik

• What hardware is needed for SDVs?
• Description with examples of different business models being adopted by OEMs
• Pursuing a Multi-energy propulsion strategy longer than expected: impact on OEM E/E roadmaps 

Dr. Richard Dixon, Senior Principal Analyst and Associate Director, E/E & Semiconductor, S&P Global Mobility

• How cameras become an enabler for Zonal Architectures in vehicles
• Why zonal architectures lag in adoption
• Standardized RCP as an enabler
• From powerful SOA nodes to pragmatic gateways
• High-data sensors as a turning point 

Max Turner, Automotive Network Architect, Ethernovia

• The unique agricultural problem space for system design
• Insights of todays agricultural E/E architectures
• Trends, challenges and concepts for next generation E/E architecture approaches 

Cornelius Butzkamm, E/E Architecture, CLAAS E-Systems

• Exploration of the 3 key features for layer 2 communication (MAC-layer) in an SDV
• Why CAN XL fulfills the necessary SDV features
• CAN FD limitations today and the solution that is under specification at CiA 

Dr. Arthur Mutter, Expert, Robert Bosch

• CAN XL: higher payloads, up to 20 Mbit/s, transceiver compatibility Keynote
• Physical layer design: eye diagrams, topologies, validation
• Bitrate limits and MCU–transceiver interface requirements 

Magnus-Maria Hell, System Engineer In Vehicle Network, Infineon Technologies

• Interoperability testing using 10BASE-T1S from component testing to system testing
• Practical approach for a modular test setup that can be adapted for different PHY designs
• Benefit for standardization work 

Leila Jürgensen, Technical Head of Automotive Ethernet Department, in-tech & Jonas Lendzion Schultz II, Expert In-vehicle Network Communications, BMW

• DDS + TSN create a deterministic real-time communication backbone
• Prevents traffic interference in complex distributed systems
• Flexible integration options for system architects 

Marc Bajet, Staff Application Engineer, RTI

• RCP enables centralized software with simple edge nodes
• Unified control and AV streaming via RCP & AVB
• Production-ready AVB stacks and mature IEEE 1722 ecosystem
• IEEE 1722 ensures OEM deployment flexibility
• Multicast IEEE 1722 streams improve bandwidth and efficiency 

Karthik Sivaramakrishnan, Ethernet Product Marketing, NXP Netherlands, Co-Author: Adriaan Niess, Robert Bosch

At the end of the first conference day we kindly invite you to use the relaxed and informal atmosphere for in-depth conversations with other participants and speakers.

• Fulfillment of strict security requirements by MCUs for data protection and prevention of unauthorized access
• Comparison of Hardware-based and Software-based security solutions
• Optimization of protection through selection of appropriate hardware and software features according to application-specific requirements
• Hardware security module (HSM) vs. TrustZone 

Jan Pistulka, Marketing Manager, Automotive MCU, ST Microelectronics

• Excessive latency and unpredictability of IEEE 802.1X/MKA startup for automotive shared-medium links under strict timing budgets
• Practical MKA configuration and protocol optimizations for predictable worst case time-to-key-agreement, robust to resets and losses
• Evaluation via RTaW Pegase models, focusing on worst-case startup behavior
• Actionable configuration guidelines and identification of remaining gaps for production deployments 

Jonathan Ndop, Engineering Cyber Security and Safety/Doctoral Researcher, Robert Bosch

• Evolution of the requirements on Security within car networks
• Security requirements of modern SDV (especially UN R155 and UN R156)
• Security controls for modern SDV
• Inventory of current state-of-the-art security controls in context to security needs for modern SDV 

Dr. Sven Plaga, Staff Product Security Engineer, Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies

• Describing complex systems in natural language is hard, so what about using a structured language approach
• Example workflow using SysML 2.0 and Generative AI 

Georg Doll, CTO Automotive & Mobility, Microsoft Deutschland

• Managing vehicle functions with AI
• Leveraging LLMs for intuitive in-car interaction
• AI-driven service architecture for vehicle control
• Integrating LLMs with in-vehicle APIs via MCP and automotive ethernet 

Philipp Enke, R&D Engineer, Co-Author: Dr. Julian Müller, R&D Engineer, both: Mercedes-Benz

• Vehicle development is bottlenecked by slow, manual configuration
• Fragmented configuration formats create complexity
• Lack of end-to-end automation limits scalability
• FLYNC is a new project to solve this with modern technology 

Iago Alvarez, Lead Engineer, Co-Author: Dr. Lars Völker, Technical Fellow, both: Technica Engineering

• Introduction to the Short-Range Wireless Communications Technology SparkLink (a.k.a. NearLink)
• Technology Ecosystem: International SparkLink Wireless Short-Range Communication Alliance (iSLA)
• Automotive Application (in Production): Digital Car Key based on SparkLink. 

Dr.-Ing. Francesc Fons, Chief Researcher, Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf & Yinchao Xia, Product Director Europe, YFORE Technology Germany

• Enhancement of Smart Agriculture by including the computing power of modern vehicle ECUs as extended data center
• Dynamic scheduling of offloaded tasks based on connectivity estimation for each path‘s quality of service
• Extent lifecycle of deprecated agricultural vehicles by enabling state-of-the art features
• Reducing the demand of herbicides, fertilizers and water via Precision Farming 

Simon Gimpel, Virtual Engineering, Fraunhofer IESE, Co-Author: Marcus Reutemann, Engineering Manager GNSS & COMS, John Deere