Real-Time Innovations (RTI), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) connectivity company, has unveiled Connext Drive, a complete solution that provides automotive manufacturers with the software and tools they need to build highly autonomous vehicles and fleets.
The new solution bridges both research and production technologies, thus supporting development from prototype to end use. Connext Drive builds on proven technology already used in over 200 AV programs around the world, as well as in over 1,000 other demanding, real-time, intelligent distributed systems.
RTI Connext Drive includes a native Software Development Kit (SDK) for developing and integrating vehicle applications. It supports software from the research phase all the way through to production. Built on the open Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, it implements data-centric connectivity that offers a virtual distributed shared memory. This enables advanced algorithms to amass all the data they need while reducing in-vehicle wiring.
The DDS standard is specified by all the important automotive ecosystems, including ROS2, AUTOSAR, and several commercial designs. This means that Connext Drive is the first platform capable of integrating DDS, ROS2, AUTOSAR Classic, and AUTOSAR Adaptive, letting OEMs work with the standard (or standards) that best meets their needs at different points in the innovation cycle.
Connext Drive offers security, evolution management, redundancy, safety and unique system development tools. These address many challenges, including the increasing demand for vehicle security; the evolution of distributed systems and need to incorporate many components that change over time; and vehicles’ need to operate non-stop.
Future updates to Connext Drive will include reference architectures and data models, development and integration guides and optional ISO 26262 ASIL D safety-certified libraries. These will reduce the risk of deploying AVs in safety-critical applications.
RTI recognizes that the QNX Real-time Operating System (RTOS) is an important component for many of our customers who need a highly-reliable safety platform. Together, QNX’s POSIX compliant OS and RTI’s connectivity framework are a complete ‘integration friendly’ stack that can simplify and accelerate software development; and support the level of IP reuse required to be competitive in tomorrow’s connected and autonomous industries.
The release of Connext Drive will bundle support for Linux and QNX on ARM platforms, making it easier for automotive customers to use the platforms that are most important to them.