Intel aims open source at your car
Atom auto-infotainment push
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Intel and a group of leading automotive-industry manufacturers have formed a non-profit group to develop and promote an open-source reference platform for In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems.
When Intel announced earlier this week that it was developing a set of Atom processors specifically for the automotive market, it did not name specific car or parts manufacturers who had committed to using those chips. Today's announcement partially answers the questions this omission raised.
The founding members of the group, called the GENIVI Alliance, include Intel, auto manufacturers BMW Group, PSA Peugeot Citroen, and (what's left of) General Motors; automotive parts and systems suppliers Delphi, Visteon, and Magneti Marelli (a division of the Fiat Group); and device-controller software company Wind River.
IVI is a catch-all term that refers to digital in-car systems that can provide navigation, internet access, back-seat video, audio, telephony, and other information and entertainment services.
Significantly, in its inaugural press release (PDF), the GENIVI Alliance specifically states that the IVI reference platform will be built around an Intel Atom processor running Wind River Linux. Development of the platform is already underway, with a launch of the "first technical deliverable" scheduled for this summer.
During a time when the worldwide automotive industry is contracting, it makes sense for industry members to gather together to create an open-source platform rather than individually design and build proprietary systems. According to GENIVI spokesperson Graham Smethurst, who is also the group general manager of BMW's Infotainment and Communication Systems, "GENIVI will challenge the traditional approach of proprietary solutions and spawn a level of creativity not yet seen in this segment."
And, Intel hopes, the new group will provide a ready market for the company's latest Atom processors. ®
COMMENTS
@ Steve Evans
Microsoft would have you believe that their patents cover just about anything to do with computers in cars, and they are obviously guff and the usual sort of crap that the US patent office seems to just rubber stamp without putting a brain cell to use.
But the thing is that this new "open platform" uses Linux (which of course MS says infringes their patents too) and so many of the proposals for the platform seem to jump right up and down all over the other patents that MS are suing TomTom about. The platform can't licence any of the patents from MS as that would stop it being open.
So I presume that MS will immediately sue the GENIVI Alliance (who sound like something out of Star Trek) over their obvious planned infringement of MS's patents. If they don't do or say anything then it says a lot about their lawsuit against TomTom - i.e. its pointless and without merit and just being done as strong arm bully toy tactics because MS have a total fail when it comes to that part of the market..
@AC
> Cars are dangerous enough with all the retards who think they can talk and drive at the same
> time
How about those that drive and read maps at the same time?
Oh gods no
I need infotainment in the car like I need a hole in the head. Radio/CD, sure. Anything else (and I include hands-free) can piss right off. GPS? Never needed it. I have this amazing skill called "map reading". It works a treat and doesn't need batteries.
Cars are dangerous enough with all the retards who think they can talk and drive at the same time; never mind adding even more distractions.
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