Advancing Software-Defined Vehicles: An End-to-End Framework with Digital Twin Based Attestation for OTA Updates

Abstract

Software-defined vehicles (SDVs) are an emerging paradigm in the automotive industry where vehicles' functionality, performance, and safety can be enhanced and updated through software, even after production. Unlike traditional vehicles, which rely primarily on physical components, SDVs leverage advanced connectivity, real-time data analytics, and cloud integration to adapt to changing regulations, driver preferences, and environmental conditions. This shift enables vehicles to evolve continuously, responding to new technological advances and customer needs. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end framework to demonstrate and realize the full benefits of SDVs. We incorporate the concept of digital twin (of the vehicle) driven software update authorization to download or update an application on the vehicle. In our framework, attestation refers to the verification of each software update's compatibility and functionality with the vehicle's current ECUs before deployment. Any impending/requested update is first verified for its compatibility with the vehicle's architecture (as per the twin) on the cloud. The idea is via the SDVs' digital twin - since each and every ECU is virtualized - the simulation and testing of the actual hardware setup with the new application software can be done without direct impact on the physical vehicle. Once the application is installed across all relevant virtualized ECUs, the framework confirms compatibility, ensuring smooth deployment and functionality in the real-world vehicle. Post this successful attestation, the installation will be done on the real vehicle corresponding to that digital twin. Through this proposed framework, we intend to ensure the safety of the updation, while the new updates contribute to the functionality and performance improvements. © 2025 IEEE.