The speed of innovation in automotive.

The speed of innovation in automotive IVI is making a lot of heads turn. No question, Linux OS and Android are the engines for change.

The open source software movement has forever transformed the mobile device landscape. Consumers are able to do things today that 10 years ago were unimaginable. Just when smartphone and tablet users are comfortable using their devices in their daily lives, another industry is about to be transformed. The technology enabled by open source in this industry might be even more impressive than what we’ve just experienced in the smartphone industry.

The industry is automotive, and already open source software has made significant inroads in how both driver and passenger interact within the automobile. Open source stalwarts Linuxand Google are making significant contributions not only in the user/driver experience, but also in safety-critical operations, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, and automobile-to-cloud interactions.

Initially, automotive OEMs turned to open source to keep costs down and open up the supply chain. In the past, Tier 1 suppliers and developers of In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) systems would treat an infotainment center as a “black box,” comprised mostly of proprietary software components and dedicated hardware. The OEM was not allowed to probe inside, and had no ability to “mix and match” the component parts. The results were sometimes subquality systems in which the automotive OEM had no say, and no ability to maintain. With the advent of open source, developers are now not only empowered to cut software development costs, but they also have control of the IVI system they want to design for a specified niche. Open source software, primarily Linux and to some extent Android, comprises open and “free” software operating platforms or systems. What makes Linux so special are the many communities of dedicated developers around the world constantly updating the Linux kernel. While there are many Linux versions, owned by a range of open source communities and commercial organizations, Android is owned and managed exclusively by Google.

To understand the automotive IVI space, it’s best to look at the technology enabled by Linux and what Android’s done to further advance automotive multimedia technology.

refer:http://embedded-computing.com/articles/automotive-source-drives-innovation/

Price Crash for Embedded SBC

The new Atom series solutions that include AMB-D255T1 Mini-ITX industrial mainboard and AMB-N280S1 fanless 3.5-inch single board computer. AMB-D255T1 is equipped with Intel D2550 Atom processor and Intel N2800 Atom processor is on AMB-N280S1 both have 5~7 years product life cycle for longevity support.

AMB-D255T1 features powerful graphic performance via VGA and HDMI output, one DDR3 SO-DIMM socket, mSATA socket with USB signals and SIM slot, and a +12V DC jack for easy power input. AMB-D255T1 also provides complete I/O such as 4 x COM ports, 6 x USB2.0 ports, 1 x GbE RJ-45 port, 1 x SATA port with power connector.

AMB-N280S1 has variety I/O ports like 5 x serial ports (one is RS-232/422/485 selectable), 4 x USB2.0, 2 x GbE RJ-45 ports, and one Mini-PCIe expansion. It also offers 1 x SATA interface and power connector for the customers have large storage capacity request. There is one HDMI port and one VGA output on AMB-N280S1 can support both two displays to maximum resolution 1920 x 1200. It also offers the 18-bit LVDS interface for small size LCD panel.

Embedded Innovator - Strategies: Dr. Kwok Wu, Head of Embedded Software and Systems Solutions, Freescale Semiconductor

Kwok Wu has many years of experience in advanced embedded systems and software, FPGA software development, and Electronic Design Automation (EDA). He has delivered high-performance scalable software platforms and products for Freescale’s Power Architecture, Starcore DSP, ARM, and ZigBee Systems-on-Chips (SoCs) in the wireless broadband networking, telecommunications, consumer, automotive, industrial, smart energy, and telehealth segments. Kwok holds a PhD, EECS (Computer Engineering) from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Refer:

http://embedded-computing.com/articles/2012-solutions-freescale-semiconductor/#utm_source=Telehealth%2Bmenu&utm_medium=text%2Blink&utm_campaign=articles