Global Innovators Showcases Battery Solu...
December 18, 2024
This collaboration aims to contribute expertise in digital vehicle access, over-the-air updates, and vehicle backend systems.
Date: July 19, 2024
Munich- BMW Group has joined the Eclipse Foundation's Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Working Group as a strategic member. This collaboration aims to promote global cooperation on open-source software technologies designed for modern vehicles. With over 20 years of experience in proprietary software development, BMW Group has established industry benchmarks in critical areas like digital vehicle access via smart devices, over-the-air updates across all vehicle functions and powertrains, and the architecture of vehicle backend systems.
Mr. Frank Weber, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Development, Said, “BMW has mastered software from chip to cloud and has done so for generations. The number of digital functions in cars is growing rapidly. All players in our industry can benefit significantly from more cooperation in developing and securing software that does not differentiate from competition. That is why we are contributing our expertise to the Eclipse SDV Working Group.”
Modern vehicles are equipped with extensive software systems, sometimes comprising hundreds of millions of lines of code. This complexity is expanding rapidly, prompting manufacturers to partner with suppliers to develop custom software packages for core functions. According to the Eclipse Foundation, mainstream operating systems such as Linux, Windows, and macOS collectively contain more code than the software found in vehicles from any two OEMs. This highlights considerable overlap in fundamental software capabilities across the automotive sector.
Mr. Christian Salzmann, Vice President BMW Group Global Software Strategy and Software Factory, Said, “We see open-source as an active collaboration model for software development and expect a lot from the joint activities in the Eclipse SDV Working Group. As an active contributor in open-source projects such as 'Zuul', we already bring a lot of relevant experience to the table.”
Mr. Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, Said, “The Eclipse SDV Working Group has quickly become the ‘centre of gravity’ for open-source software development in the global automotive industry. We’re thrilled to have an innovative leader of BMW’s calibre join as a strategic member. Their contributions will play a pivotal role in driving this transformative shift in modern vehicle design.”
Strategic participants of the SDV Working Group are organizations that consider involvement in Eclipse projects crucial to their operations. They are dedicating substantial developer and other resources to advance Eclipse Foundation technology. As a Strategic Member of the SDV Working Group, BMW Group can influence the group’s trajectory and oversee various projects. BMW Group has been a committed member of the Eclipse Foundation for over ten years and remains dedicated to fostering innovation within the openMDM and openPass initiatives.
In addition to the new activities under the Eclipse Foundation, the BMW Group will continue to contribute to AUTOSAR (Automotive Open System Architecture). As a founding member of AUTOSAR, the BMW Group has been working with other automotive manufacturers, suppliers and companies from the electronics, semiconductor and software industries to advance standards for electrical electronics (E/E) architecture. “AUTOSAR is a success story that does a lot for the automotive industry. We see the activities in Eclipse as a supplement, not as a substitute,” adds Christian Salzmann.
