DENSO Corp. has taken a stake in PiNTeam Holding GmbH, a German company that creates in-vehicle embedded software technology deployed primarily in Europe. With this equity stake, DENSO will accelerate the development of basic software* that controls in-vehicle electronic control units (ECUs). 

Vehicles are becoming increasingly reliant on complex, embedded software due to growing demands for vehicle performance, especially as new systems in advanced driver assistance system and electrification proliferate. The number of ECUs per vehicle has steadily risen, with luxury cars typically having more than 80 ECUs each. For this reason, in-vehicle electronic system control will need to be able to process larger quantities of more diverse data than at present. Highly reliable basic software will be required to coordinate many ECUs and control the entire vehicle.

In the partnership, DENSO will combine its technologies related to in-vehicle electronic system control, as well as its expertise in mass production quality and precision, with PiNTeam’s advanced embedded software solutions that meet European standards. This will enable both companies to develop basic software from a global perspective, which will increase its effectiveness, according to DENSO.

* Basic software: Software for providing the basic functions required to operate electronic control units (ECUs). The software is implemented in microprocessors in ECUs.