ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International
  • News
    • A-L
      • ADAS
      • AI & Sensor Fusion
      • Business
      • Connectivity
      • Cybersecurity
      • Expo
      • HMI
      • Last-mile delivery
      • Legislation & Standards
      • Localization/GNSS
    • M-Z
      • Mapping
      • Off-Highway
      • Robo-Taxis
      • Sensors
      • Shared Mobility
      • Safety
      • Simulation
      • Testing
      • Trucks
      • V2X
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • January 2025
    • September 2024
    • April 2024
    • January 2024
    • Subscribe
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Events
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter
  • Automotive Interiors
  • Automotive Testing
  • Automotive Powertrain
  • Professional Motorsport
  • Tire Technology
  • Media Pack
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International
  • News
      • ADAS
      • AI & Sensor Fusion
      • Business
      • Connectivity
      • Cybersecurity
      • Expo
      • HMI
      • Last-mile delivery
      • Legislation & Standards
      • Localization/GNSS
      • Mapping
      • Off-Highway
      • Robo-Taxis
      • Sensors
      • Shared Mobility
      • Safety
      • Simulation
      • Testing
      • Trucks
      • V2X
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. April 2025
    2. January 2025
    3. September 2024
    4. April 2024
    5. January 2024
    6. Subscribe
    Featured
    April 15, 2025

    In this Issue – April 2025

    Online Magazines By Web Team
    Recent

    In this Issue – April 2025

    April 15, 2025

    In this Issue – January 2025

    November 29, 2024

    In this Issue – September 2024

    July 23, 2024
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Events
  • Awards
    • About
    • Shortlist
    • Judges
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International
Features

Interview: Dean Phillips, Amazon Web Services

Rachel EvansBy Rachel EvansJanuary 20, 20226 Mins Read
Share
LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email

Automotive manufacturers are exploiting cloud resources for computationally demanding development tasks, as Dean Phillips, worldwide technical leader for automotive at Amazon Web Services, explains how to process simulation workloads of over one million cores

Cloud-based resources are revolutionizing the way engineers access computing power. Rather than having to house HPC (high-performance computing) hardware in-house, with the associated support staff and infrastructure demands this entails, it is now possible to access an Ă  la carte menu of capabilities from a whole host of suppliers.

One of the biggest hitters in the game is Amazon, via its Amazon Web Services (AWS), which generated US$45.4bn revenue in 2020. It is an impressive statistic that AWS has secured 32% of the cloud computing market share, more than Microsoft and Google combined according to market analysts. Launched in 2006, it offers a variety of products, one of the oldest and most relevant of which is EC2, the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud service, which provides scalable access to computing cores for tasks such as simulation.

As Dean Phillips, worldwide technical leader for automotive at AWS, explains, “We offer automotive solutions across the full ecosystem – from car production to selling cars to cars on the road. We’re the only cloud provider that can offer fully integrated, end-to-end solutions for its customers, from the initial ideation and innovation on a new vehicle through engineering and manufacturing to consumer sales and after-sales.”

While automotive manufacturers invariably have their own in-house HPC resources, these will always have a finite capacity; with the ever-growing demands from areas such as EV and AD/ADAS development, being able to rapidly access on-demand computing is an attractive option for companies.

“AWS offers three strategic workloads for the automotive industry,” Phillips continues. “The first
is AWS Connected Vehicle Solution, which enables automotive manufacturers to build server-free IoT applications that gather, process, analyze and act on connected vehicle data, without having to manage any infrastructure.

“It also provides a full suite of services to support ADAS and autonomous vehicle development and deployment. OEMs are leveraging AWS to process simulation workloads of over one million cores on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud as well as dev-ops for automotive software development and software-defined vehicle initiatives.

“Lastly, AWS supports digital customer engagement workloads with customer solutions like ZeroLight that leverage a broad set of virtual GPU instances on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud.”

Service delivery
Specifically in relation to simulation work, one of AWS’s big selling points is that it can offer in-house technology to increase efficiency and shorten development times in a cost-effective manner. It not only provides HPC for areas such as aerodynamic simulation, but also machine learning capabilities for CAD and structural simulation. In applications such as these, it is rare for users to interact directly with AWS; instead, the big players in computer-aided design/manufacturing and simulation, such as Autodesk, provide access to Amazon’s cloud computing resources through their own in-built interfaces.

However, Phillips notes that capabilities can also be directly integrated with manufacturers’ existing IT infrastructure: “This includes the ability for automotive companies to transfer massive amounts of data from real-world tests and use AWS cloud computing power to run computer simulation and deep-learning exercises at an accelerated rate. As auto makers move from simulation to assembly, they can then apply AWS analytics and Amazon SageMaker to inform testing and influence vehicle design for performance and efficiency.”

He flags up the example of Nissan using Rescale (a specialist that has developed an application-agnostic interface giving access to cloud infrastructure) and AWS HPC to reduce time-to-market for its computer-aided engineering workloads such as crash simulation and aerodynamics development.

Another area in which AWS is being deployed by many manufacturers is cataloging and interrogating the vast amounts of data their organizations generate. AWS IoT is able to provide secure connectivity and management of millions of vehicles and devices globally, in addition to tools to easily track and govern data access rights, and security updates.

For example, BMW Group used AWS to help its digital transformation with the manufacturer’s Cloud Data Hub, which processes and combines anonymized data from vehicle sensors and other sources across departments, making it easily accessible for internal teams creating customer-facing and internal applications. “The centralized AWS-based data lake forms the BMW Group’s foundation to develop data-driven IT solutions and enables the company to automatically and independently scale on a serverless architecture,” Phillips outlines.

A data lake is where largely unstructured data is stored in a flat architecture with each item of data assigned an identifier and metatags, a useful means of arranging data on everything from consumer habits to manufacturing and testing activities. In the case of a company using AWS for its data lake, much of the heavy lifting of establishing and managing such a resource is removed. “It can therefore innovate faster than it could with the previous on-premises solution, which required infrastructure management and capacity planning for each new initiative.”

Another example that Phillips details is that of autonomous driving startup Torc: “Ahead of the launch of its fleet of next-generation self-driving test trucks, Torc selected AWS to handle the scale and speed needed for data transfer, storage and compute capacity. Because of AWS’s ability to provide rapid, secure data transfer, intelligent tiered storage, managed orchestration and analytics tools and high-performance multi-core CPU and GPU compute, Torc was able to scale its agile and cost-efficient development platform and accelerate its testing and commercialization of the technology.”

Of course, AWS is not the only player on the cloud compute block, and even with a smaller market share, Microsoft, with its Azure platform, is also heavily invested in the automotive market. Regardless of supplier, the advent of easily scaled, rapidly accessible cloud computing resources can only be a boon for automotive manufacturers in the increasingly data-heavy and simulation-led automotive industry.

Case studies
Rivian: AWS publicized in 2021 that electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian harnesses the cloud to perform powerful simulations, with AWS enabling speed and scalability – reducing the need for real prototypes. According to AWS, the OEM was previously limited by the compute capacity of its on-premises compute infrastructure. Rivian migrated to a new stack and used various AWS services. As AWS notes, using Amazon EC2 C5n Instances, Rivian’s software performance has improved by up to 66%. Engineers can reduce their focus on managing the technology and instead home in on development tasks.

Keyou: In 2021 AWS highlighted how technology startup Keyou turned to AWS to develop a new computational fluid dynamics simulation tool. The solution is said to be both fast and scalable, capable of supporting hundreds of cores and able to produce results in just a day.

Volkswagen: In another of its 2021 case studies, AWS detailed how Nice DCV, a high-performance remote display protocol included within AWS, has enabled Volkswagen Passenger Cars to stream remote applications to 1,000 engineers, providing near-real-time responsiveness and enhanced security.

BMW Group: In late 2020, it was announced that AWS and BMW are jointly developing cloud-based IT solutions and upskilling up to 5,000 software engineers in cloud technology.

This article was first published in the November 2021 issue of Automotive Testing Technology International

Share. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email
Previous ArticleAutonomous trucking: Achieving safe deployment of Level 4 systems
Next Article Sophia Velastegui joins Aptiv as chief product officer

Related Posts

Features

ASAM shares updates on its positioning for SDV, AI and open-source at Technical Seminar

April 14, 20259 Mins Read
Safety

The potential impact of ADAS on hospital admissions and healthcare expenditures

March 27, 202511 Mins Read
Features

SPONSORED ARTICLE: Material solutions for vehicle domain controllers

February 27, 20254 Mins Read
Latest News

WATCH: Riding the Wayve with Sir Richard Branson

May 9, 2025

Uber adds Pony.ai and more WeRide robotaxis and cities to its platform

May 8, 2025

Zoox issues software recall following Las Vegas incident

May 8, 2025
FREE WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
Getting in Touch
  • Free Weekly E-Newsletters
  • Meet the Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
RELATED UKI TOPICS
  • Automotive Interiors
  • Automotive Testing
  • Automotive Powertrain
  • Professional Motorsport
  • Tire Technology
  • Media Pack
© 2025 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Notice & Takedown Policy
  • Site FAQs

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

Performance

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

SAVE & ACCEPT