Embedded Software Blog

The role of Android as an alternative to embedded Linux has been a subject of quite a bit of discussion recently. As the use of open source software in automotive gains momentum there are differing opinions on the subject of using Android, Linux or both. The Linux Foundation recently wrote a post summarizing a discussion during a panel at the Android Builders Summit as well as some interviews from … Read More

Infotainment, IVI, Automotive, MontaVista, Virtualization, Linux, linux container

Two weeks ago we announced the acquisition of the MontaVista Automotive Business Unit, including the Linux IVI (infotainment) platform called the MontaVista Automotive Technology Platform. When Mark Mitchell, GM of Open Source Embedded Solutions, was interviewed by EE Times he mentioned he expected to be have a combined release of the MontaVista Linux solution for IVI and the Mentor Embedded Infotainment … Read More

Infotainment, IVI, Automotive, yocto project, MontaVista Automotive Technology Platform, openembedded

This is what some in industry would have you believe; I disagree  Thinking back to the 1990’s and 2000’s we heard the same thing about Linux as an OS for servers.  It’s clear from the use of Linux in servers today and the many consumer devices built on Linux that the OS and its ecosystem can meet very demanding business and technical needs, addressing and overcoming many of the shortcomings cited in … Read More

GENIVI, Infotainment, Automotive, IVI, Linux

I was involved in a discussion about driver workload management the other week. It is a fascinating topic and I can see it becoming a much more important feature of in-vehicle HMIs in the coming years. The basic concept is pretty straightforward – when a driver is in a high workload situation (e.g. driving at 70mph on a crowded freeway), the HMI adapts so that the functionality available to the driver … Read More

CAN/LIN, Medical, Energy, Freescale, Ethernet, Infotainment, MOST, Automotive, IVI, SoC, flexray

I was involved in a discussion about driver workload management the other week. It is a fascinating topic and I can see it becoming a much more important feature of in-vehicle HMIs in the coming years.  The basic concept is pretty straightforward – when a driver is in a high workload situation (e.g. driving at 70mph on a crowded freeway), the HMI adapts so that the functionality available to the driver … Read More

Driver Distraction, Automotive, Infotainment, IVI, HMI, Inflexion

I attended an excellent automotive HMI conference in Europe last week, with attendees from many of the top OEMs and tier-1 suppliers.  As we all know, automotive HMI is a complicated subject, and hence topics ranged from driver distraction,  workload management,  usability studies, the desire of drivers to access their favourite internet applications in the car and the recently published NHTSA driver … Read More

HMI, Automotive, IVI, UI, Inflexion, Infotainment

Today, more ‘things’ are connected to the Internet than there are people on the planet. Connectivity was a major theme at last week’s Freescale FTF event in San Antonio, Texas. There were over 1300 attendees, and around 200 technical sessions over the course of 4 days. An impressive range of SoC solutions aimed at connectivity covered such diverse applications, from Medical, Energy Management, Safety … Read More

IVI, Infotainment, Medical, CAN/LIN, Automotive, MOST, flexray, Freescale, SoC, Energy, Ethernet