Infotainment System Enhancement for German Automotive OEM Leader

Background

A German automotive OEM leader was aiming at enhancing his infotainment system with multimedia applications to enrich the customer experience.

Challenges

The client planned to relaunch its infotainment user interface starting from scratch. The goal was to offer an intuitive and visually pleasant solution to its customers.

The client was struggling to find partners with experience in mobile platforms and automotive environments. Widespread mobile technologies, such as Gracenote music recognition, needed to be combined with existing components while maintaining the high standard the client was known for.

These components were originally conceptualized and implemented with a single threaded environment in mind. However, the anticipated relaunch made it necessary to integrate them into a new multithreaded and asynchronous client-server architecture, designed to run smoothly.

Close communication between the client’s engineers and the external partners was required in order to meet the client’s deadlines and goals.

Solution

The client partnered with Marsner Technologies, which provides a rich experience in developing automotive, mobile and multimedia solutions.

Marsner’s experts executed the feature development while meeting all deadlines and surpassing expectations. The key focus was to merge these features with the existing setup:

  • Gracenote integration (a popular music recognition app)
  • Easy automatic music tag and metadata updates
  • Mood-based playlist generation
  • Postprocessing of Gracenote’s traffic on the client’s side to secure customer compliance
  • Customized 3D Album Cover Flow Browser to work with the client’s new software stack
  • Software component development controlling a new line of DVD changers

The implementation was based on QNX as the operating system, with software written in C++ and OpenGL. The communication with the other devices was achieved through MOST.

Marsner’s own quality assurance (QA) processes and guidelines helped the client to easily identify potential issues at an early stage, increasing productivity and stability.

With their deep industry experience, Marsner’s experts worked closely with the internal engineering team to streamline the project and ultimately deliver a seamless experience for the client.

Results

Marsner successfully enriched the infotainment system with several key features, allowing the client to strengthen its position as a market leader. In addition, Marsner received feedback that the additional features were well received by the client’s customers.

  • Successfully implemented key features for an automotive infotainment system
  • Secured implementation works seamlessly with the existing setup
  • Reduced complexity, resulting in greater maintenance ability
  • Effectively matched the needs of the client’s in-house engineering team
  • Met all project deadlines and goals

Key features:

  • Improve usability and responsiveness
  • Integrate third-party platforms
  • Integrate a new line of DVD changers

Industry: Automotive

Technologies: C++, OpenGL, MOST, QNX

Tools: Optolyzer G2 Suite, Eclipse, Perforce

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