The Journey of MongoDB with COVESA in the Connected Vehicle Landscape

Arnaldo Vera
April 15, 2024 | Updated: September 9, 2024

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There’s a popular saying: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” I would argue The Connected Vehicle Systems Alliance (COVESA) in partnership with their extensive member network, turns this saying on its head. They have found a way to go fast, together and also go far, together.

COVESA is an industry alliance focused on enabling the widespread adoption of connected vehicle systems. This group aims to accelerate the development of these technologies through collaboration and standardization. It's made up of various stakeholders in the automotive and technology sectors, including car manufacturers, suppliers, and tech companies.

COVESA’s collaborative approach allows members to accelerate progress. Shared solutions eliminate the need for individual members to reinvent the wheel. This frees up their resources to tackle new challenges, as the community collectively builds, tests, and refines foundational components.

As vehicles become more connected, the data they generate explodes in volume, variety, and velocity. Cars are no longer just a mode of transportation, but a platform for advanced technology and data-driven services. This is where MongoDB steps in.

MongoDB and COVESA

As the database trusted for mission-critical systems by enterprises such as Cathay Pacific, Volvo Connect, or Cox Automotive; MongoDB has gained expertise in automotive, along with many other industries, building cross-industry knowledge in handling large-scale, diverse data sets. This in turn enables us to contribute significantly to vehicle applications and provide a unique view, especially in the data architecture discussions within COVESA.

MongoDB solutions support these kinds of innovations, enabling automotive companies to leverage data for advanced features. One of the main features we provide is Atlas Device SDKs: a low-footprint, embedded database directly living on ECUs. It can synchronize data automatically with the cloud using Atlas Device Sync, our data transfer protocol that compresses the data handles conflict resolution, and only syncs delta changes, making it extremely efficient in terms of operations and maintenance.

VSS: The backbone of connected vehicle data

An important area of COVESA’s work is the Vehicle Signal Specification (VSS). VSS is a standardized framework used to describe data of a vehicle, such as speed, location, and diagnostic information. This standardization is essential for interoperability between different systems and components within a vehicle, as well as for external communication with other vehicles and infrastructure. VSS has been gaining more and more adoption, and it’s backed by ongoing contributions from BMW, Volvo Cars, Jaguar LR, Robert Bosch and Geotab, among others.

MongoDB’s BSON and our Object-oriented Device SDKs uniquely position us to contribute to VSS implementation. The VSS data structured maps 1 to 1 to documents in MongoDB and objects in Atlas Device SDKs, which simplifies development, and speeds up applications by completely skipping any Relational Mapper layer. For every read or write, there is no need to transform the data between relational and VSS.

Our insights into data structuring, querying, and management can help optimize the way data is stored and accessed in connected vehicles, making it more efficient and robust.

Where MongoDB contributes

MongoDB, within COVESA, finds its most meaningful contributions in areas where data complexities and community collaboration intersect.

First, we can share insights into managing vast and varied data emerging from connected vehicles generating data on everything from engine performance to driver behavior.

Second, we have an important role in supporting the standardization efforts, crucial for ensuring different systems within vehicles can communicate seamlessly. Our inputs can help ensure these standards are robust and practical, considering the real-world scenarios of data usage in vehicles.

Some of our contributions include an Over the Air update architectural review presented at Troy COVESA’s AMM in October 2023; sharing insights about the Data Middleware PoC with BMW; and weekly contributions at the Data Expert Group. You can find some of our contributions on COVESA’s Wiki page.

In essence, MongoDB's role in COVESA is about providing a unique perspective from the database management point of view, offering our understanding from different industries and use cases to support the developments towards more connected and intelligent vehicles.

MongoDB, COVESA, and AWS together at CES2024

MongoDB’s most recent collaboration with COVESA was at the Consumer Electronics Show CES 2024 during which MongoDB’s Connected Vehicle solution was showcased. This solution leverages Atlas Device SDKs, such as the SDK for C++, which enables local data storage, in-vehicle data synchronization, and also uni and bi-directional data transfer with the cloud.

Below is a schematic illustrating the integration of MongoDB within the software-defined vehicle:

Schema 1: End to end integration for the connected vehicle

At CES 2024, MongoDB also teamed up with AWS for a compelling presentation, "AI-powered Connected Vehicles with MongoDB and AWS" led by Dr. Humza Akhtar and Mohan Yellapantula, Head of Automotive Solutions & Go To Market at AWS. The session delved into the intricacies of building connected vehicle user experiences using MongoDB Atlas. It showcased the combined strengths of MongoDB's expertise and AWS's generative AI tools, emphasizing how Atlas Vector Search unlocks the full lifecycle value of connected vehicle data.

During the event, MongoDB also engaged in a conversation with The Six Five, exploring various aspects of mobility, self-driving vehicles (SDVs), and the MongoDB and AWS partnership. This discussion extended to merging IT and OT, GenAI, Atlas Edger Server, and Atlas Device SDK.

Going forward

At the end of the road, it’s all about enhancing the end-user experience and providing unique value propositions. Defect diagnosis based on the acoustics of the engine, improved crash assistance with mobile and vehicle telemetry data, just-in-time food ordering while on the road, in-vehicle payments, and much, much more. What all these experiences have in common is the combination of interconnected data from different systems.

At MongoDB, we are laser-focused on empowering OEMs to create, transform, and disrupt the automotive industry by unleashing the power of software and data. We enable this by:

  • Partnering with alliances such as COVESA to build a strong ecosystem or collaboration.

  • Having one single API for In-vehicle Data Storage, Edge to Cloud Synchronization, Time Series storage, and more, improves the developer experience.

  • Focusing on having a robust, scalable, and secure suite of services trusted by tens of thousands of customers in more than 100 countries.

Together with COVESA’s vision for connected vehicles, we’re driving a future where this industry is safer, more efficient, and seamlessly integrated into the digital world. The journey is just beginning.

To learn more about MongoDB-connected mobility solutions, visit the MongoDB for Manufacturing & Motion webpage.

Achieving fast, reliable and compressed data exchange is one of the pillars of Software Defined Vehicles, learn how MongoDB Atlas and Edge Server can help in this short demo.

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