PR84647

BERLIN, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

OpenSynergy, today announced its yearlong collaboration with Google and

Qualcomm on a reference platform with a virtualized Android Automotive OS

instance running on top of OpenSynergy's COQOS Hypervisor SDK and Qualcomm's

Snapdragon SA8155 automotive System on Chip (SoC).

Google has announced collaborations with several vehicle manufacturers to power

in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems with Android Automotive OS, Google's

open-source Android platform.

The automotive sector is moving towards consolidating increasingly complex and

heterogeneous hardware subsystems such as the Instrument Cluster, Infotainment,

Head up display etc. onto a single System on Chip (SoC) with mixed-criticality

(safety-critical and non-critical) requirements. This enables tighter software

integration between the subsystems, and allows for cost and weight savings.

Hence, Google is working on virtualization of Android Automotive OS by

leveraging and extending VIRTIO, an established virtualization standard

maintained by the OASIS consortium, which Google is a member of. Virtualization

allows multiple operating systems ("guests") with mixed-criticality

requirements to share the same hardware ("host") managed by host software

("hypervisor"). Android Automotive OS will be supported as a guest virtual

machine on automotive industry standard based hypervisors.

Last year Google, OpenSynergy and Qualcomm decided to collaborate on the

implementation of this reference platform. Goal of this platform, which is

planned to be released soon, is to show how Android Automotive OS can be safely

and securely integrated on a powerful System on Chip (SoC) using open standards

based virtual platform.

The VIRTIO standard

VIRTIO, a device-sharing standard popular in the cloud domain, provides the

transport layer and device models for essential computing devices such as

Block, Network, Console, GPU, Input, etc. The DMA-like nature of the devices

allows high-performance implementations as an alternative to hardware assisted

I/O virtualization models while still providing ease of implementation and safety.

OpenSynergy joined the OASIS consortium in 2019 to pioneer the expansion of

VIRTIO in the automotive domain. At the same time the company contributed with

several VIRTIO devices to the Linux kernel. Thanks to the expertise gathered in

the open source domain, OpenSynergy currently provides the most mature

open-standard-driven virtual platform in the automotive industry.

Regis Adjamah, CEO of OpenSynergy: "Embracing VIRTIO was a major milestone for

our automotive-grade COQOS Hypervisor SDK. It is good news for all our

customers currently in the process of upgrading their IVI programs. We are

complementing our lean, OS- agnostic, type 1 hypervisor with the open-standard

device sharing technology VIRTIO. We aggressively pursue the adoption of open

standards by investing in open source. We believe the time has come for the

automotive industry to abandon proprietary solutions, to embrace open standards

and compete on the quality of their implementation."

By showing how Android Automotive OS can be deployed and ported without further

modification on different SoCs and different hypervisors, the reference

platform will help VIRTIO to expand its scope to the automotive domain. VIRTIO

provides maximum flexibility to OEMs and Tier 1 partners, enabling them to

easily switch between SoCs, hypervisors and host/guest operating systems, to

best match their needs.

Google and Android are trademarks of Google LLC.

About OpenSynergy

OpenSynergy provides embedded software products for the next generation of

vehicles. Our hypervisor and communication products pave the way for an

integrated driving experience.

The virtualization platform COQOS Hypervisor SDK supports the convergence of

software-based vehicle functions with different requirements on safety and

security. It is designed for multi-display cockpit controllers, smart antennae

or powerful domain controllers using a mix of AUTOSAR technology and open

solutions, such as Linux and Android.

OpenSynergy is active member of several standardization bodies relevant in the

Automotive industry, such as OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of

Structured Information Standards), AUTOSAR, GENIVI Alliance and Linux

Foundation (Automotive Grade Linux).

Our engineering services complement the products.

Read on www.opensynergy.com.

Contact:

OpenSynergy GmbH

Sabine Mutumba

Director of Marketing

Rotherstr. 20

D-10245 Berlin

Tel.: +49 (0)30.60 98 540-41

Email: marketing@opensynergy.com

Source: OpenSynergy GmbH