ARM, Renault, MontaVista join in-vehicle alliance

LONDON — ARM Holdings plc, Renault and MontaVista Software have joined GENIVI, an automotive electronics industry alliance that is seeking to drive adoption of an open-source car infotainment platform. MontaVista joined GENIVI as a core member in June, 2009 and now the three companies have all been elected to take seats on the board of directors of the organization.

At its formation in March 2009 the alliance included auto makers BMW, General Motors and PSA Peugeot Citroen, parts suppliers Magneti Marelli and Visteon Corp. along with Intel Corp. and Wind River.

Since then the organization has grown to more than 60 members, spanning the automotive ecosystem across all major geographies, including five OEMs, key first tier suppliers, and the majority of semiconductor providers to the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) market.

The admission of ARM and Montavista, which is being acquired by Cavium Networks Inc., is clearly a counterbalance to the presence of Intel and its embedded software subsidiary Wind River. ARM said its engagement in GENIVI is part of its overarching strategy to enable consumers enjoy the same user experience across all forms of entertainment equipment, both outside and inside the car.

GENIVI aims to provide a reusable, open source IVI platform that will deliver benefits including shorter development cycles and quicker time-to-market while opening up the innovation potential in automotive infotainment.

IVI is a rapidly growing and evolving area that brings together a wide range of automotive infotainment elements such as music, news, Internet, multimedia, navigation and phone communication. ARM, along with its ecosystem have many years of experience with Linux-based open-source collaborations

"In just 12 months since its inception, GENIVI has made great strides in the development and implementation of an open source software platform for automotive IVI applications," said Graham Smethurst, GENIVI president, in a statement issued by ARM. "The alliance is totally dependent upon the co-operation of its members and, as one of the industry's greatest proponents of open standards, I believe ARM will be a great asset to GENIVI as we move forward."

"Our engagement in GENIVI is a natural evolution of ARM's vision to enable the same compelling user experience across all forms of consumer equipment and continue our market leadership position in the area of automotive infotainment," said Kevin Smith, vice president of segment marketing, ARM . "The success of ARM's business model is well demonstrated with a significant number of ARM Partners actively involved in delivering highly differentiated, software-compatible solutions into this segment and we look forward to driving further innovation as we take up this elected seat."