GENIVI Alliance to develop an open source in-vehicle infotainment platform

Publication date: 09 March 2009

GENIVI Alliance to develop an open source in-vehicle infotainment platform

Leading automobile manufacturers and suppliers have announced the formation of the GENIVI Alliance, a non-profit organisation committed to driving the development and broad adoption of an open source In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) reference platform. The new alliance will unite industry-leading automotive, consumer electronics, communications and application development companies investing in the IVI market and driving innovation.

GENIVI Alliance founding members BMW Group, Delphi, General Motors, Intel, Magneti Marelli, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Visteon Corp., and Wind River are collaborating to create a shared GENIVI platform - a common software architecture that is scalable across product lines and generations. The platform will accelerate the pace at which automakers can deliver new solutions, bringing them closer to the lifecycle of consumer devices, and accelerating new business models, such as connected services.

"GENIVI will challenge the traditional approach of proprietary solutions and spawn a level of creativity not yet seen in this segment," said Graham Smethurst, GENIVI spokesperson and BMW Group general manager, Infotainment and Communication Systems. "Collaborating on a common reference platform in non-differentiating areas of the architecture will allow GENIVI members to focus on the development and integration of innovative customer functionality."

"Having a common reference platform will be critical for the greater auto ecosystem in developing innovative and sophisticated in-car entertainment applications," said Hans-Georg Frischkorn, executive director of Global Electrical Systems, Controls and Software at GM. "The GENIVI Alliance will enable this and allow us to collaborate closely with our industry partners - sharing development costs and improving our overall speed to market."

The GENIVI platform will streamline elements of the IVI development process that have historically been duplicated across the industry. The alignment of the automotive industry on an open source platform will provide a common foundation for automobile manufacturers and their suppliers to build their differentiated products and services, and create opportunities for companies that previously found it difficult to enter the automotive domain.

Development of the open source GENIVI platform is well underway, with a summer 2009 launch for the first technical deliverable. This deliverable will be based on a tested and proven automotive prototype - running on the Intel Atom processor and Wind River Linux - that was developed over the last 18 months by GENIVI members. The reference implementation will be made available as open source code to stimulate innovation among developers.

Source: ITS international