Hardware specialist Intel and embedded systems manufacturer Wind River are aiming to put Linux on wheels. Both enterprises have announced their intention to release a jointly developed Linux platform for the automotive industry.

Intel will be providing the hardware, with the software coming from Wind River. The two will provide in vehicle infotainment in future based on Intel's new MID platform known as the "Open Infotainment Platform" (OIP). OIP will include the full TCP/IP stack and use Wimax to connect to the World Wide Web. At the same time, it will be fully compatible to MID class devices. Developments will be coordinated at Moblin.org where the developers of the Moblin MID stack have exchanged ideas previously.

Wind River is also planning a commercial Linux environment called "Wind River Linux Platform for Infotainment", which will provide uniform support to solutions such as navigation devices, MP3 players or cellphone hands-free equipment. Numerous third party applications will extend the software package with plans including voice detection and recognition solutions by Nuance Communications, echo and noise suppression for Bluetooth by Parrot and music management by Gracenote.

The new Open Source platform will be closely geared to the requirements of the automotive industry. The use of state-of-art standards such as Media-Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) and the CAN Bus (Controller Area Network) guarantee this. Device development will focus on extremely short boot times and fast initialization. Easy integration of mobile entertainment devices such as Apple's iPod will also play an important role.

Besides Intel and Wind River, the new open platform is also supported by vehicle manufacturers and automotive suppliers Bosch, BMW and Magneti Marelli. The new developments are likely to become available in the third quarter of this year. For mor information on the platform and the In-Vehicle Infotainment Community surf to Moblin.org.

Hardware specialist Intel and embedded systems manufacturer Wind River are aiming to put Linux on wheels. Both enterprises have announced their intention to release a jointly developed Linux platform for the automotive industry.