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Automotive Grade Linux Releases Open Source Speech Recognition APIs

By March 1, 2019Announcements

Leading open source automotive project continues growth with UCB 7.0 platform release and five new AGL members

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2019 — Automotive Grade Linux (AGL), an open source project at the Linux Foundation developing a shared software platform for in-vehicle technology, today announced the latest release of the AGL platform, Unified Code Base (UCB) 7.0, which features open source voice recognition/speech APIs. AGL also welcomes five new members: BlackRidge Technology, Capgemini, Insignary, Nippon Seiki, and Total.

“As part of our UCB 7.0 release, we are releasing new speech recognition APIs that allow application providers to easily integrate speech capabilities within their apps,” said Dan Cauchy, Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux at the Linux Foundation. “But what’s really unique here is that application developers can speech-enable their apps independently of the underlying speech technology provider. This should really simplify the development process and get us closer to our goal of speech-enabling every app in the vehicle.”

Developed through a joint effort by dozens of member companies, the AGL Unified Code Base (UCB) is an open source software platform that can serve as the de facto industry standard for infotainment, telematics and instrument cluster applications. Sharing a single software platform across the industry reduces fragmentation and accelerates time-to-market by encouraging the growth of a global ecosystem of developers and application providers that can build a product once and have it work for multiple automakers.

The AGL UCB 7.0 includes an operating system, middleware and application framework. Key features include:

  • Open source speech recognition APIs
  • Device profiles for telematics and instrument cluster
  • Web App Manager (WAM) ported from WebOS Open Source Edition (OSE) and demo apps available for download
  • Core AGL Service layer can be built stand-alone
  • Reference applications including media player, tuner, navigation, web browser, Bluetooth, WiFi, HVAC control, audio mixer and vehicle controls
  • Integration with simultaneous display on IVI system and instrument cluster
  • Multiple display capability including rear seat entertainment
  • Wide range of hardware board support including Renesas, Qualcomm Technologies, Intel, Texas Instrument, NXP and Raspberry Pi
  • Software Development Kit (SDK) with application templates  
  • SmartDeviceLink ready for easy integration and access to smartphone applications (automakers can also choose to integrate Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on top of the AGL platform)
  • Application Services APIs for navigation, voice recognition, bluetooth, audio, tuner and CAN signaling
  • Near Field Communication (NFC) and identity management capabilities including multilingual support
  • Over-The-Air (OTA) upgrade capabilities
  • Security frameworks with role-based-access control

The full list of additions to the UCB 7.0 can be found here.

The global AGL community will gather in Tokyo, Japan for the bi-annual All Member Meeting on March 5-6, 2019 . At this gathering, members and community leaders will get together to share best practices and future plans for the project. To register, to view the schedule, or learn more, visit the AMM Website.

New Member Quotes:

BlackRidge Technology
“The connected car ecosystem is transforming the automotive manufacturers and related parties into software companies, and with that comes an increased attack surface for cyber threats,” said Bill Joll head of worldwide sales, BlackRidge Technology. “Automotive Grade Linux provides us a community to collaborate and contribute our expertise in securing the operational, IoT and IT systems convergence in the connected car ecosystem with our identity-based and military proven cyber security technology.”

Capgemini
“Innovation is a key driver at Capgemini and we recognize the value of open-source driven innovation and collaboration in product development. We are proud to join the Automotive Grade Linux community.,” said Sanjay Salunkhe, CEO for Digital Engineering and Manufacturing Services at Capgemini. “ We look forward to making our contribution to this project and bringing value to the automotive industry by realizing the potential of connected car technologies.”

Insignary
“As the automotive industry races to develop connected cars with full range of intelligent features and services, such as autonomous driving, manufacturers must leverage sophisticated open source software components and platforms to innovate swiftly and cost effectively.  However, open source software may contain security vulnerabilities that, if exploited by hackers, could expose drivers in life threatening situations,” said Tae-Jin (TJ) Kang, CEO of Insignary. “Insignary hopes to actively engage the AGL community to help manufacturers identify and address these security risks through our unique fingerprint-based binary scanning technology.”

Nippon Seiki
“Nippon Seiki is one of the leading supplier of the automotive HUD and cluster products. We are honored and excited to be joining Automotive Grade Linux”, said Yoshiki Watanabe, Senior Manager of Development Development in R&D Center at Nippon Seiki Co.,Ltd.. “We believe that collaborating with the AGL community will bring smart cluster with one unified platform.”

Total
“It is exciting to see AGL’s growth across industries  and the widening applications of the code base,” said Zhor Hassar, Connected Car Project Leader at Total. “Total is very proud to be the first Oil & Gas Company to be part of AGL.”

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About Automotive Grade Linux (AGL)
Automotive Grade Linux is a collaborative open source project that aims to accelerate the development and adoption of a fully open software stack for the connected car. Leveraging the power and strength of Linux at its core, AGL is uniting automakers and technology companies to develop an open platform that offers OEMs complete control of the user experience so the industry can rapidly innovate where it counts. The AGL platform is available to all, and anyone can participate in its development. Learn more: https://www.automotivelinux.org/

Automotive Grade Linux is hosted at The Linux Foundation. Linux Foundation projects are independently funded software projects that harness the power of collaborative development to fuel innovation across industries and ecosystems.

About The Linux Foundation
Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation is supported by more than 1,000 members and is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards, open data, and open hardware. Linux Foundation’s projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, and more.  The Linux Foundation’s methodology focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.

Additional Resources

Media Inquiries

Emily Olin
Automotive Grade Linux, the Linux Foundation
eolin@linuxfoundation.org