QNX helps automakers gear up for Integrated Driving Experiences at 2015 CES

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With CES 2015 now up and running, QNX has pushed several announcements out surrounding what they have in store for CES, including showing off the new QNX technology concept car, based on a Maserati Quattroporte GTS.

"From vision sensors to smartphones, the car is experiencing a massive influx of new technologies, and automakers must blend these in a way that is simple, helpful, and non-distracting," said Andrew Poliak, global director of business development, QNX Software Systems. "With its full range of road-proven solutions, QNX is ideally suited to helping automakers and automotive tier-one suppliers achieve this goal, while giving them the flexibility to create experiences that project their unique brand values."

Throughout the course of CES, there will be several QNX demonstrations happening by QNX themselves as well as technology partners such as AISIN AW CO., LTD., HI Corporation, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm Technologies, Texas Instruments (TI) and more.

Press Release

QNX Helps Automakers Gear Up for Integrated Driving Experiences at 2015 CES

QNX demonstrates how seamless integration of infotainment, ADAS, and instrument cluster technologies can enable a simpler, safer, more enjoyable drive.

LAS VEGAS, 2015 International CES (North Hall, Booth 2231), January 5, 2015 — QNX Software Systems Limited, a subsidiary of BlackBerry Limited, today demonstrated how its comprehensive suite of solutions for infotainment systems, digital instrument clusters, and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) can enable highly integrated driving experiences that promote safer driving.

The demonstrations include the new QNX technology concept car, based on a Maserati Quattroporte GTS, and the QNX reference vehicle, based on a Jeep Wrangler. Both vehicles integrate an array of third-party and QNX technologies — including sensors, cameras, navigation engines, cloud-based services, speech interfaces, and acoustics software — to create experiences that simplify driving tasks, warn of possible collisions, and enhance overall driver awareness.

"From vision sensors to smartphones, the car is experiencing a massive influx of new technologies, and automakers must blend these in a way that is simple, helpful, and non-distracting," said Andrew Poliak, global director of business development, QNX Software Systems. "With its full range of road-proven solutions, QNX is ideally suited to helping automakers and automotive tier-one suppliers achieve this goal, while giving them the flexibility to create experiences that project their unique brand values."

ADAS Demonstrations

To help automotive companies satisfy the growing consumer and regulatory demand for ADAS features, QNX offers the new QNX® OS for Automotive Safety. The vehicles at 2015 CES demonstrate how ADAS systems based on the QNX OS can reliably integrate data from multiple sensors — camera, ultrasonic, LiDAR — to help drivers detect threats and avoid collisions. ADAS features in the QNX technology concept car include:

Digital instrument cluster with speed recommendations, collision warnings, and parking assist — Designed to heighten driver awareness, the instrument cluster can show the current speed limit, display an alert if the car exceeds the limit, and even recommend an appropriate speed for upcoming curves. It also warns of obstacles on the road ahead and can display turn-by-turn directions provided by the car's infotainment system. To simplify backing into tight spaces, the cluster also offers intelligent parking assist, which combines a wide-angle rear-view display with overlaid guidelines to indicate the car's reverse trajectory.

To present the speed information and collision warnings, the cluster uses the EB Assist ADASISv2S Electronic Horizon Solution from Elektrobit and LiDAR obstacle detection powered by Phantom Intelligence. The cluster's human-machine interface (HMI) was designed by Rightware, using the Rightware Kanzi® UI Solution.

  • ADAS display for enhancing obstacle awareness — This innovative LED-based display allows drivers to gauge the direction and proximity of objects to the front, rear, and sides of the vehicle, without having to take their eyes off the road. Stretching the width of the dash, the display integrates input from the car's ultrasonic and LiDAR sensors to provide a centralized view of ADAS warnings. The display is based on Active Lighting Technologies from TE Connectivity.

  • Rear- and side-view displays with blind-spot warnings — The QNX concept team has transformed the car's rear- and side-view mirrors into video displays that offer a complete view of the scene behind and to the sides of the vehicle. The side-view displays also provide color-coded alerts to warn of cars or other objects approaching the car's blind zones.

All the above systems in the QNX technology concept car run on Snapdragon Automotive Solutions, featuring the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 602A applications processor, an automotive-grade infotainment chipset from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., with support for sophisticated graphics, HMIs, voice recognition, audio processing, and multiple HD displays and cameras.

ADAS features in the QNX reference vehicle, based on a Jeep Wrangler, include:

  • ADAS system that can detect traffic signs and warn of lane departures — To help enable driver awareness, the vehicle's ADAS system uses Itseez's sophisticated computer-vision algorithms for traffic sign recognition, forward collision warnings, and lane departure warnings; the corresponding alerts are displayed in the vehicle's digital instrument cluster.

  • Realtime virtual drive demonstration — Exclusive to 2015 CES, a 12-foot high-definition screen will accompany the reference vehicle to demonstrate how QNX-based systems can process realtime ADAS data. Attendees will experience a real-world driving scenario and see first-hand how the vehicle can dynamically detect objects and provide corresponding warnings and recommendations. The scenario was recorded with Elektrobit's EB Assist ADTF framework, and the screen will display graphical overlays that illustrate the results of Itseez's ADAS algorithm processing.

  • Fast-booting rearview display — The vehicle's QNX-based infotainment head unit features a back-up camera display that can boot up in approximately 0.8 seconds — significantly faster than the two-second maximum mandated by NHTSA.

Infotainment Demonstrations

To demonstrate the flexibility of the QNX CAR™ Platform for Infotainment, both the Maserati and the Jeep are outfitted with full-featured infotainment systems designed for natural interaction with the vehicle. For instance, the Maserati includes:

  • iHeartRadio "Drive Anywhere" radio — Never drive out of range of your favorite AM/FM radio station again. The infotainment system will detect when the AM/FM signal is missing and automatically switch to the corresponding digital iHeartRadio station, so you can continue listening to your favorite local radio anywhere you drive.

  • Natural language processing — More than a simple command-and-control interface, the car's voice recognition feature uses Nuance's Dragon Drive speech recognition engine. For instance, if you say "It's way too cold in here," the HVAC system will respond by raising the temperature in the car interior.

  • Full-featured smartphone connectivity — The system integrates with popular smartphones through a variety of protocols such as VNC® Automotive, RealVNC's implementation of MirrorLink™. It also includes a full-featured multimedia engine with background synching of phone-based contacts and music for instant playback.

  • Flexible support for multiple app environments — Apps include iHeartRadio (Android), Parkopedia (HTML5), Pandora (HTML5), and Elektrobit's EB street director (native application), all running in a Qt-based human-machine interface.

  • Rear-seat controls — A backseat display lets passengers control HVAC functions, as well as navigation, song selection, and other infotainment features. Flying-Cam SARAH System

The QNX booth will also feature Flying-Cam 3.0 SARAH, an Oscar-winning unmanned aerial camera system used to film death-defying camera angles for movies like Skyfall, Oblivion, Prisoners, Mr. Go, and Gone with the Bullets. Features include precision autopilot, gyro-stabilized camera head, survey-grade LiDAR, and GNSS satellite navigation, all controlled by a platform running the QNX Neutrino® OS.

Cloud Platform Demo

The QNX booth also features an Internet of Things (IoT) demonstration by BlackBerry focused on the automotive industry. Highlights include remote browsing of vehicle data, log and fault analysis for software troubleshooting and performance optimization, vehicle data and application management, software downloads, and a key fob app that allows a driver to control designated vehicle functions from a smartphone. A second BlackBerry IoT demonstration for asset tracking provides an interface that tracks thousands of truck containers, displays current location and shipping history, and plays back a selected trip segment.

Technology Partner Demonstrations

Also at CES, the following members of the QNX automotive ecosystem will demonstrate systems running on the QNX platform:

  • AISIN AW CO., LTD. — Aisin AW will present its 3D navigation solution, running on the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment, in the QNX booth.

  • HI Corporation — HI Corporation will present a digital instrument cluster created with its exbeans UI Conductor user-interface authoring tool and running on the QNX Neutrino OS. The cluster will be demonstrated in the QNX booth.

  • Intel — Intel will showcase the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment and a digital instrument cluster, highlighting GPU performance and concurrency on a dual-core Intel® Atom E3827 processor-based automotive system, in the QNX booth.

  • NVIDIA — NVIDIA will demonstrate the QNX CAR Platform running on an NVIDIA Tegra Visual Computing Module (VCM) in the QNX booth and in the NVIDIA booth, LVCC, South Halls 3-4, 30307.

  • Qualcomm Technologies— Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. also will showcase a Maserati Quattroporte GTS. The Snapdragon Automotive Solutions, featuring the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 602A applications processor, an automotive-grade infotainment chipset, will support all QNX-based systems in the vehicle. Visit LVCC, Central Plaza, CP21a and 8252.

  • Texas Instruments (TI) — In addition to the TI technologies demonstrated in the QNX booth, TI will demonstrate the QNX CAR Platform running on its "Jacinto 6" automotive processors. Visit LVCC, North Hall Meeting Rooms, N115-N119.

About QNX Software Systems

QNX Software Systems Limited, a subsidiary of BlackBerry Limited, is a leading vendor of operating systems, middleware, development tools, and professional services for connected embedded systems. Global leaders such as Audi, Siemens, General Electric, Cisco, and Lockheed Martin depend on QNX technology for their in-car electronics, medical devices, industrial automation systems, network routers, and other mission- or life-critical applications. Visit www.qnx.com, follow @QNX_News on Twitter, and visit www.facebook.com/QNXSoftwareSystems. For updates on the company's automotive work, follow @QNX_Auto and visit qnxauto.blogspot.com

A global leader in mobile communications, BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY; TSX:BB) revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Visit http://blackberry.com/.

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