An off-the-shelf digital twin for software-defined vehicles

The complexity of vehicle hardware and software is rising at an unprecedented rate, so traditional development methodologies are no longer sufficient to manage system-level interdependencies among advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving (AD), and in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) functions.

That calls for a new approach, the one that enables automotive OEMs and tier 1s to speed the development of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) with early full-system, virtual integration that mirrors real-world vehicle hardware. That will accelerate both application and low-level software development for ADAS, AD, and IVI and remove the need for design engineers to build their own digital twins before testing software.

It will also reduce time-to-market for critical applications from months to days. Siemens EDA has unveiled what it calls a virtual blueprint for digital twin development. PAVE360 Automotive, a digital twin software, is pre-integrated as an off-the-shelf offering to address the escalating complexity of automotive hardware and software integration.

While system-level digital twins for SDVs using existing technologies can be complex and time-consuming to create and validate, PAVE360 Automotive aims to deliver a fully integrated, system-level digital twin that can be deployed on day one. That reduces the time, effort, and cost required to build such environments from scratch.

Figure 1 PAVE360 Automotive is a cloud-based digital twin that accelerates system-level development for ADAS, autonomous driving, and infotainment. Source: Siemens EDA

“The automotive industry is at the forefront of the software-defined everything revolution, and Siemens is delivering the digital twin technologies needed to move beyond incremental innovation and embrace a holistic, software-defined approach to product development,” said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO, Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Siemens EDA’s digital twin—a cloud-based off-the-shelf offering—allows design engineers to jumpstart vehicle systems development from the earliest phases with customizable virtual reference designs for ADAS, autonomous driving, and infotainment. Moreover, the cloud-based collaboration unifies development with a single digital twin for all design teams.

The Arm connection

Earlier, Siemens EDA joined hands with Arm to accelerate virtual environments for Arm Cortex-A720AE in 2024 and Arm Zena Compute Subsystems (CSS) in 2025. Now Siemens EDA is integrating Arm Zena CSS with PAVE360 Automotive to enable design engineers to start building on Arm-based designs faster and more seamlessly.

Figure 2 Here is how PAVE360’s digital twin works alongside the Arm Zena CSS platform for AI-defined vehicles. Source: Siemens EDA

On the other hand, access to Arm Zena CSS in a digital twin environment such as PAVE360 Automotive can accelerate software development by up to two years. “With Arm Zena CSS available inside Siemens’ pre-integrated PAVE360 Automotive environment, partners can not only customize their solutions leveraging the unique flexibility of the Arm architecture but also validate and iterate much earlier in the development cycle,” said Suraj Gajendra, VP of products and solutions for Physical AI Business Unit at Arm.

PAVE360 Automotive, now made available to key customers, is planned for general availability in February 2026. It will be demonstrated live at CES 2026 in the Auto Hall on 6–9 January 2026.

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An off-the-shelf digital twin for software-defined vehicles

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