Figure 1: 2012 Toyota Camry in-dash IVI system pairs with Bluetooth. (Courtesy: YouTube.com; video by www.toyota-city.com in Minneapolis, MN).
All these features, many of which are being driven by Chinese system integrators anxious to cash in on China's growing auto market where cars are frequently barely sold with a radio, are based upon Linux distributions. Multi-sourced, sometimes incompatible Linux distros make it challenging for auto manufacturers to pull together a functioning system. GENIVI Compliance 2.0 focuses on the middleware needed to assure smooth integration across manufacturers, brands, models and even generations of cars and OEM vendors. The overall Compliance 2.0 specification lists 67 components when the "optional" ones are included.
From proprietary to multi-sourced?
But, you argue, will auto manufacturers really embrace an open standard like GENIVI that could provide dozens or hundreds of competing vendors? After all, the IVI system is bolted into a car and will probably stay there for its life - it's not like choices for open-source tires or windshield wipers. "GENIVI allows them to use the latest and greatest technology," says GENIVI/Intel's Hoffman, "and more vendors means more choice." Since roughly 60 percent of the car's software is the IVI head unit, some standardization and rules enforcement is a good thing. GENIVI provides an opportunity for the auto companies to save some of the estimated $50 - $100 million investment needed for a new head unit. And standardization allows reuse across models or an automaker's entire fleet.
But it's not just about cost savings. Increasingly, the IVI system is "at the intersection of consumer behaviors," says Hoffman. Gen X'ers see more value in their $200 smartphone than they do in their $20,000 car. I got first-hand experience of this when my twenty-something daughter chose her Mazda 3 based upon the auto-pairing Bluetooth music integration feature not even found on the latest BMW 3 Series. The phone/audio combo sold the car.
GENIVI's Hoffman says that GM's latest Cadillac showcases a Linux-based IVI system that's similar to GENIVI. GM is also a visible Tier 1 OEM participant in GENIVI.
Judging by the strong 165-plus member industry participation in GENIVI, it's making waves from Detroit to Stuttgart to Tokyo (Figure 2). Along with Compliance 2.0, GENIVI announced several new Compliance 2.0 platforms from Accenture/Samsung; Mentor Graphics; MontaVista; Renesas and Wind River. These add to the 19 platforms from 9 members who had previously announced 1.0 compliance.
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