The term software-defined vehicle refers to a transformation where the physical and digital components of an automobile are decoupled and features, functionality, and operations are defined through software. In a fully programmable car, digital components—such as modules for safety, comfort and infotainment, and vehicle performance—would be regularly developed and deployed through over-the-air updates.
The Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) is a Working Group within the Eclipse Foundation that facilitates open source development of automotive software. The aim is to provide a forum for individuals and organizations to build and promote open source solutions for worldwide automotive industry markets. Using a “code first” approach, SDV-related projects focus on building the industry’s first open source software stacks and associated tooling for the core functionality of a new class of automobile.
The SDV Working Group is designed as a vendor-neutral, member-driven organization that allows users and developers to define the roadmap collaboratively. The Working Group provides a governance framework for open source IP management and collaboration. This includes a Steering Committee that defines and manages the strategy and technical roadmap of the working group. A Technical Advisory Committee recommends which Eclipse Foundation open source projects should be included within the purview of the working group.
Current automotive industry paradigms pose challenges to achieving the SDV vision. Today’s car models contain custom hardware and software components sourced from many suppliers. Hardware and software components are tightly integrated and released simultaneously. This results in fragmentation and monolithic programming frameworks. The challenge is illustrated in the following consideration: of the some 100 million lines of code that make up the modern car, it’s estimated that mainstream OS installations of Linux, Windows and OS X share a lot more code between each other than vehicles from any two OEMs.
Open source is a way to confront this complexity and heterogeneity. Collaborating on the technological framework—such as common APIs and hardware abstraction—means OEMs and other industry players do not need to reinvent the wheel, allowing more resources to be devoted to differentiating features and technological advancements. An open source ecosystem also has the potential to accelerate innovation by enabling developers worldwide to solve problems and create applications in the automotive domain.
Help define SDV strategic themes and priorities
Gain an inside view of the technology roadmap and and influence its direction
Shape the definition, evolution, and execution of the specifications process
Participate in open collaboration through professionally managed development initiatives
Develop your team by building the next generation SDV applications
Build and sustain the SDV ecosystem
"As one of the leading software companies in the automotive industry, we are looking forward to the open cooperation in the Eclipse Foundation. Open source has long been a cevtral component in the automotive sector. We see great potential in the cooperation of the open source community for the software-driven car and also for our developers. We want to create innovations and set open standards together."
Michael Wintergerst, Executive Vice President for Vehicle and Cloud Platform, CARIAD
"We are glad to suport the 'code first' approach of Eclipse SDV by contributing Eclipse eCAL: a scalable middleware enabling efficient communication within distributed systems. Continental is looking forward to collaborating within the community to create innovative solutions for the Software-Defined Vehicle."
Michael Huelsewies, Head of Architecture and Software at Continental Automotive
"The first Eclipse SDV Contribution Day sets a major milestone on the road to an open-source software-defined vehicle ecosystem: first, we look forward to listening to the community's projects and are excited to present our two projects. Second, we welcome the growth of the community and the addition of new participants building an ecosystem for the software-defined vehicle. We are convinced that cross-company collaboration will lead to excellent results."
Cristoph Hartung, Chairman of the Board of Management of ETAS GmbH
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