BlackBerry Ltd.

01/17/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/18/2023 07:44

CES 2023: How BlackBerry QNX Turbocharges the Future of Automotive Embedded Systems

CES 2023: How BlackBerry QNX Turbocharges the Future of Automotive Embedded Systems

AUTOMOTIVE / 01.17.23 / John Wall

From enhancing the acoustic experience in software-defined vehicles (SDVs), to establishing foundational initiatives and educational programs that will turbocharge software innovation efforts for embedded systems, BlackBerry QNX had an eventful exhibition at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

"We are on our way towards an automotive metaverse-like developer environment and QNX will ensure we get there." - Martin Stamm, Technical Lead of the CAEdge framework at Continental.

In case you missed it, here are highlights of what BlackBerry QNX announced at CES® 2023:

Embedded System Developers, Start Your Engines: Introducing QNX Accelerate

QNX® Accelerate, an initiative that makes the cloud-enabled version of the industry-leading QNX® Neutrino® Real Time Operating System (RTOS) and QNX® OS for Safety available in the AWS Marketplace, is now up and running. Offering BlackBerry® QNX® solutions in a cloud environment is a milestone for embedded systems development. It enables mission-critical application developers worldwide - and across industries including automotive, robotics, medical devices, industrial controls, and aerospace and defense - to accelerate development cycles and reduce time-to-market for new, innovative solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Prior to general availability, early access versions of QNX in the Cloud were made available to select OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, including Marelli and Continental. The two leading Tier 1 global automotive suppliers are currently trialing the solution for developing their next-generation automotive technology. Their responses have been overwhelmingly positive.

"Migrating our core software stack to the QNX cloud has been a game-changer for our virtual software development and validation efforts, significantly boosting the efficiency of our developers and improving overall time-to-market for new features in the vehicle," said Martin Stamm, Technical Lead of the CAEdge framework at Continental. "The environmental parity between the Graviton instances on AWS and the physical vehicle computer allow us to directly deploy the same binaries to the cloud and to the vehicle, marking a very significant first step in our vision toward delivering SDVs that are built, tested and validated virtually in software before being physically created."

QNX-Enhanced In-Car Audio Experience in SDVs

Marelli also expanded its seven-year collaboration with BlackBerry QNX, announcing plans to deploy the new QNX® Acoustics Management Platform (AMP) and QNX® Hypervisor® as part of its enhanced in-car audio experience in SDVs.

The deployment will significantly improve voice command accuracy, and reduce unwanted echo and background noise that can spoil hands-free communications in the car. The active sound design module in the QNX AMP will also support creation of individual sound zones, voice recognition across multiple zones within the vehicle, and active noise cancellation for a better managed acoustic experience.

Image: Illustration of vehicle acoustics management system capabilities

"Once again, we're employing the proven capabilities of the BlackBerry QNX platform to address the challenges and opportunities of the auto industry's transformation to the software-defined vehicle," said Marelli Vice President of Engineering & Innovation Electronic Systems Yannick Hoyau. "Our continued relationship is testimony to not only the commercial value of our combined vision, but also our shared commitment to empower the future of connected cars with secure, safe, and innovative technologies."

BlackBerry QNX and Texas Instruments Introduce the QNX Academy for Functional Safety

A collaboration between BlackBerry QNX and Texas Instruments, the QNX® Academy for Functional Safety is a comprehensive online software developer enablement program designed to accelerate innovation efforts while de-risking the product development process for safe and secure embedded systems.

The new online training academy puts BlackBerry QNX and Texas Instruments™ development tools, evaluation hardware, software, and self-paced training at the fingertips of embedded software developers. The program's goal is to accelerate the development of systems that are safe and secure, and that offer real-time performance.

"Our collaboration with BlackBerry QNX will help embedded software developers accelerate their product development - allowing them to not only learn, but innovate at their own pace," said Texas Instruments Vice President for Processors Sameer Wasson. "High-performance processors, such as the TDA4VM featuring vision, sensor fusion and AI technology, can dramatically enhance perception and automation capabilities for a variety of systems. As software developers push the limits of what their systems can do, providing resources to help them more easily meet their functional safety requirements becomes even more critical."

Hosted on the TI Developer Zone at dev.ti.com, the QNX Academy for Functional Safety provides developers with the resources they need to quickly get their safety-critical development projects on the right path. It includes access to the TDA4VM Edge AI starter kit from Texas Instruments, and to evaluation licenses of the QNX® Hypervisor for Safety and QNX® Software Development Platform (SDP). The learning center offers user-friendly, self-paced training modules on topics such as safety culture, safety of the intended functionality, fault tree analysis, anomaly detection, goal structuring notation and Bayesian belief networks, and more.

Demonstration hardware and software available through the Academy will enable developers to "load and learn" right out of the box, and to apply their learning with practical exercises, providing a foundational understanding about safety-critical development. Additionally, the training content uses real-world examples to help developers at every stage of their project.

To learn more about BlackBerry QNX, click here, blackberry.qnx.com

About John Wall

Senior Vice-President at BlackBerry and head of QNX.

John is responsible for the planning, design, and development of QNX Software Systems (embedded software) and Certicom (cryptography applications).

John has been an integral member of the BlackBerry QNX team since 1993. He has held a variety of roles within the organization, including Vice President of Engineering and Services. He holds a Bachelor's of Engineering, in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa.

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