Linux for In-Car Infotainment

Automakers are faced with a  growing demanding to implement multimedia and network connectivity, in addition to abiding by very market-specific requirements. These challenges are further magnified by the traditionally long product lifecycles of the automobile, including the requirement to support car network infrastructures and standards for several generations. As software content in the car continues to grow, car makers are looking for a mature, yet flexible solution, to build on vertically in a specific car generation as well as horizontally from generation to generation – in order not to become a subsidary of the IT industry.

Thus Mentor Graphics announced end of October the Automotive Connected OS™ software platform, providing scalable frameworks for IVI, Driver Information and ADAS applications, it facilitates faster time-to-market by solving automotive-specific challenges at the operating system level, and supports the most modern and rapidly evolving features for consumer electronics (CE) device connectivity within the cabin.

Linux-based automotive systems have already been adopted into production programs and that number is expected to exceed 50 million by 2018. The Connected OS software features a modular, GENIVI-based Linux platform with an enhanced board support package (SuperBSP™) and an optimized middleware layer (OPTstack™). This software stack delivers key technologies such as Fastboot, Instant-On, and optimized audio/video functionality. “Connected OS is designed to be quickly integrated into the car network while keeping up with all the new CE device trends. It supports multi-core hardware platforms, has some real-time capabilities and boots fast thanks to its slim kernel size of less than 10,000 lines of code”, said Andrew Patterson, Market Development Director from Mentor's UK-based operation.

Ethernet Audio/Video Bridging (eAVB) will also be integrated into the Connected OS solution. Most of the in-car data, especially related to safety applications is required to be transmitted in real-time with high quality of service (QoS).  The Connected OS product enables these applications through the support for emerging connectivity protocol eAVB to address the stringent requirements of low-latency time sensitive applications and reserved data channels. The eAVB stack in the Connected OS solution is developed to IEEE AVB standards and is AVnu Alliance compliant. Supported IEEE implementations include IEEE 802.1AS, 802.1Qat, 802.1Qav, 1722.1 and 1733. AS

www.mentor.com/automotive