Blackberry Unveils World's First Safe and Secure Digital Cockpit Solution

BlackBerry today unveiled the world's first digital cockpit solution that empowers automakers to provide the in-car experience drivers want, with the security, safety, and reliability they need. The QNX Platform for Digital Cockpits enables automakers to offer a QNX-based digital instrument cluster and infotainment system that provides access to the latest Android-based applications such as Google Maps and Google Play Music all from a single ECU.

BlackBerry has showcased this technology on a Audi Q8 at the ongoing CES 2019

BlackBerry's ISO 26262 safety-certified hypervisor makes sure the multiple operating system environments powering the cluster, infotainment, and other driver information systems do not interfere with one another. This isolation is important because if an app crashes, is compromised, or needs to be updated, it will not impact critical-driving functions. The company has showcased this technology on a 2019 Audi Q8. The QNX Platform for Digital Cockpits combines BlackBerry's safety-certified QNX Hypervisor for Safety, QNX Platform for Instrument Clusters, QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment, and a secure Android implementation.

BlackBerry QNX digital cockpit was also featured Fisker Karma

Grant Courville, VP of Product Management and Strategy, BlackBerry QNX, said, "We wanted to make an integrated cockpit which can be customised as per the needs of the automakers and the QNX is that solution. We have two isolated systems, the instrument cluster and the infotainment system and this helps bring in the safety aspect which makes sure that if one fails, the other wont."

BlackBerry's QNX Platform for Digital Cockpits is made possible thanks to a partnership with Tata Elxsi

BlackBerry's QNX Platform for Digital Cockpits is made possible thanks to a partnership with Tata Elxsi who provide customizations and support for Android and ensure Android updates and customizations are available for the lifetime of the vehicle. The development builds on the companies' multi-year partnership, first announced in 2017, that saw Tata Elxsi sign on with BlackBerry as a value-added integrator to help companies design and develop secure, mission-critical solutions using BlackBerry QNX technologies. Tata Elxsi has been responsible for handling the Android ecosystem for the QNX platform.

We did ask Grant about how speech recognition technology integrated into this and he said, "Speech recognition is one of the most widely used technologies and we have tried to evolve the technology to help it understand the customer better."