OSGi Provides Open Platform for the Internet-Enabled Car
16 October 2000
OSGi Provides Open Platform for the Internet-Enabled Car
Member Companies Working to Develop Automotive Solutions Utilizing the OSGi
Framework
SAN RAMON, Calif., Oct. 16 As the automotive industry
explores the vehicle of the future this week at the Convergence 2000 show in
Detroit, members of the Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) are utilizing
the OSGi Specification Release 1.0 as a powerful platform for the network
delivery of managed services to the automobile.
OSGi makes it possible to access, download and use services in a vehicle's
mobile environment, creating an enormous potential for car manufacturers and
service providers to offer new value-added services to drivers and passengers.
From applications such as remote door lock/unlock, on-demand navigation and
remote diagnostics to banking, entertainment and Web browsing, OSGi enables
the delivery of dynamic new services on demand. With the growing adoption of
the OSGi platform in the residential market, the automobile will become a
natural extension of the home network.
OSGi is in the process of establishing the OSGi Mobility Expert Group for
member companies to further define the application of OSGi in mobile
environments. Typically, mobile gateways contain or interact with one or more
devices that are able to retrieve the current position of the gateway. The
OSGi Mobility Expert Group will work to define a standard application
programming interface (API) to obtain the location of the gateway and provide
location information to applications. The first formation meeting is
scheduled for October 26-27, 2000, hosted by SmartMove at its headquarters in
Leuven, Belgium.
"OSGi is gaining traction in the automotive industry as many of our member
companies work with automotive manufacturers to develop solutions based on the
OSGi services framework," said John Barr, president of OSGi, and director,
Architecture and Technology Strategy for Personal Area Networks, Motorola.
"The car is a natural extension of the home, and OSGi enables an open platform
for network delivery of managed services to either environment."
OSGi (http://www.osgi.org) is an independent, non-profit corporation
composed of 75 technology companies working to define and promote open
standards for the delivery of multiple services over wide-area networks to
local networks and devices in the home, small office, and the automobile. The
OSGi specification defines an open framework that enables multiple software
services to be loaded and run on a services gateway. Once resident in a
vehicle, an OSGi-compliant services gateway enables the delivery of managed
services and information to the vehicle, and also creates a platform for
information and services exchange between home networks and tomorrow's car
networks.
To follow is a sampling of testimonials from OSGi member companies about
the potential of OSGi for automotive and mobile applications. A complete list
of OSGi member companies is available at
http://www.osgi.org/about/members.html.
Adtranz
"By using the OSGi platform, we can deliver a product to our customers
which gives them the opportunity to exploit new services and to keep them
updated," said Rene Steiner, product manager services, Adtranz Train Control &
Communications. "Furthermore, it is a platform which allows us to efficiently
provide our know-how to vehicle operators to steadily improve the operation
and maintenance process. The reaction of our customers on the field trials in
a subway and a locomotive confirmed the market need for a system that combines
platform stability and flexibility for using upcoming business opportunities.
We firmly believe in the applicability of the OSGi platform in a mobile
environment."
Contact:
Rene Steiner
Adtranz Train Control & Communication
(+41) 1 318 34 91
rene.steiner@ch.adtranz.com
Ericsson
"Ericsson has already proven the OSGi concept together with vehicle
manufacturers," said Robert Linnarsson, vice president of Ericsson Business
Innovation AB, head of Automotive Communications. "We are confident that OSGi
will enable vehicle manufacturers to dramatically reduce time to market for
advanced vehicle related services, such as vehicle diagnostics,
personalization and software management."
Contact:
Robert Linnarsson, Automotive Communications
Ericsson Business Innovation AB
(+46) 8 757 0821 or (+46) 70 590 1121
robert.linnarsson@era.ericsson.se
Gatespace
"Gatespace is committed to developing secure, reliable and cost-effective
software platforms for network-based services for services gateways," said
Staffan Truve, CEO and president of Gatespace. "We see the automotive market,
next to the residential, as one of the most promising areas where services
gateways will take an important role within the next few years. The change in
business models this development will bring to the automotive industry is
tremendous, and Gatespace is already participating in several development
projects for automotive and other mobile services gateways. Based on the
experiences from these projects, Gatespace will work to extend the OSGi
specification with new features needed in the automotive and mobile markets."
Contact:
Staffan Truve
Gatespace
(+46) 70 59 33 885
truve@gatespace.com
IBM
"IBM saw very early on the applicability of OSGi specifications far beyond
home residential service gateways and has actively promoted OSGi
specifications for the automotive market," said Dan Bandera, Business Line
Manager - Device Software, IBM Pervasive Computing Division. "At the same
time, having worked closely with top auto manufacturers through AMI-C
(Automotive Multimedia Interactive Collaboration), IBM fully embraces all open
standards initiatives in helping this market grow."
Contact:
Dan Bandera
IBM Pervasive Computing
(512) 838-2739
bandera@us.ibm.com
Motorola
"OSGi is an essential enabling technology for application lifecycle
management of in-vehicle devices that are wirelessly connected to the
network," said Tim VanGoethem, director of sales and marketing, Network System
Platforms and Software, Motorola Telematics Communications Group. "The
ability to download new applications to mobile devices in a well-managed and
secure way will be critical to the success of systems that must remain
exciting for the life of an automobile. Motorola's leadership position in
OSGi fits well with our mission to provide compelling solutions for the
person, home, work team and automobile."
Contact:
Tim VanGoethem
Motorola Telematics Communications Group
Tim.Vangoethem@motorola.com
ProSyst Software
"OSGi has done a very good job at focusing on both home networks and
tomorrow's car networks," said Daniel Schellhoss, co-founder and co-CEO of
ProSyst Software AG. "OSGi enables the access, download and use of services
and information at home and in a vehicle's mobile environment, and the other
way around - creating an enormous potential for telematics service providers
to offer their services to drivers and passengers. On-demand navigation,
remote diagnostics, car theft, email, Web browsing, online shopping, and more
will be brought to customers by this single open platform. ProSyst has been
working to make our mBedded Server software product attractive for the
automotive industry. mBedded Server, which is shipping already, is designed
to be compliant with the OSGi framework plus has many ready to use services.
It is the key software element to gateway scenarios. It supports hardware
platforms that are suitable to be used in cars (like those based on SH3) and
it also support various JVMs suitable for automotive applications, such as HP
Chai and QNX."
Contact:
Daniel Schellhoss
ProSyst Software AG
(+49) 221 6604 203
d.schellhoss@prosyst.com
Sun Microsystems
"OSGi is all about managed delivery of network services and the automobile
provides a natural platform for OSGi service gateways," said Curtis Sasaki,
director of marketing, Sun Microsystems. "With the growing demand for in-car
services like navigation, remote diagnostics and door lock/unlock, theft
protection, multimedia on-demand, the Java technology-based OSGi standard will
enable exciting new business models for car manufacturers and service
providers."
Contact:
Preston Turner
Burson-Marsteller
(415) 591-4068
preston_turner@sfo.bm.com
SmartMove
"SmartMove believes that in the near future, services and information
delivery to home and car networks will be organized by means of one common
platform," said Steven Buytaert, co-CEO at SmartMove. "With the OSGi
reference framework running on SmartMove's Open Telematics Framework,
SmartMove makes it possible to exchange information and services between
providers and an in-house gateway, the same way it does with the vehicle. We
have been actively participating within OSGi, showing our commitment to
working with others, not only to create standards for information and service
delivery to the vehicle, but also to create a platform for information and
services exchange between home networks and tomorrow's car networks."
Contacts:
Wouter Piepers Barrett Kalellis
SmartMove nv Hedge & Company, Inc.
(+32) 16 31 00 20 or (+32) 016 30 09 76 (248) 350-2190
wouter.piepers@smartmove-eu.com bkalellis@hedgeco.com
About OSGi
The OSGi is a non-profit corporation formed to provide a forum for the
creation of open specifications for the delivery of multiple services over
wide-area networks to local networks and devices, and to accelerate the demand
for products and services based on these specifications worldwide through the
sponsorship of market and user education programs. The San Ramon, California,
USA-based consortium comprises 75 member organizations from around the globe.
Membership is open to any interested party, including Internet Service
Providers, Network Operators, Original Equipment Manufacturers, Independent
Software Vendors, end users, academic institutions, government agencies, and
non-profit organizations. The consortium's Web site address is
http://www.osgi.org.
All company, brand and product names may be trademarks that are the sole
property of their respective owners.
For further information contact:
David Nieland Wendy Dunn Deepak Kamlani
Managing Director Account Executive Executive Director - OSGi
BSMG Worldwide BSMG Worldwide interprise ventures
Tel: +1 972 830 2663 Tel: +1 972 830 4731 Tel: +1 925 277 8110
dnieland@bsmg.com wdunn@bsmg.com dkamlani@inventures.com