A digital cockpit is the set of screens, voice control and cameras in front of the driver, run together by one computer. The industry calls the driver's area the cockpit. Until a few years ago, each part of it was a separate box with its own small computer. In a new car, a single computer called a cockpit controller often runs them all.
A digital cockpit has four parts. The instrument cluster is the screen behind the steering wheel. It shows speed, fuel or battery charge, and warning lights. The infotainment system is the central touchscreen. It runs maps, music, phone calls and the car's settings. The in-car voice assistant lets the driver ask for something without taking their hands off the wheel. The driver monitoring system is a small camera that watches whether the driver is drowsy or distracted.
Say a driver in Hyderabad is on a long drive and wants a coffee stop. She asks for a café on the route, and the voice assistant finds one. The route shows on the central screen. The next turn of the same route appears on the screen behind the steering wheel. All of this works because one controller shares the information between the screens.
Using one computer is cheaper than using four, and it lets the screens share information. But it brings a risk. The instrument cluster shows warnings, so it must never freeze, even if the music app crashes. So the controller keeps the cluster's software separate from the rest, and the cluster keeps running if the infotainment part fails. The chip that does this is described under automotive processors.
The cockpit also depends on other systems. It gets its map from digital maps and location data. It gets commands from the phone app through the connected car platform. It runs on the car's computers, which are arranged by the vehicle E/E architecture. A software-defined vehicle keeps adding features to the cockpit through updates.
Carmakers buy the cockpit from specialist suppliers, who make both the hardware and the software. Much of the value is now in the software, so carmakers increasingly want to write it themselves. Phone makers also compete for the dashboard, with systems that show a phone's apps on the car's screen. A good part of this software is written in engineering centres in India.