Japan’s Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry is developing a plan for a joint effort of 10 Japanese car manufacturers, some of which have already begun working on their own, to develop an operating system for automotive electronics. European car manufacturers are also working on a similar project already. The ministry will commission the task to JasPar - Japan Automotive Software Platform Architecture - a joint venture of automakers and auto-parts makers and, electronics firms, including Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Honda R&D Co., Denso Corp. and Toshiba Corp.

A prototype should be completed in 2009 and then marketed in the next 5 to 10 years.

Basically, all electronically induced processes on a car are controlled by a central computer, which is run by a built-in operating system. Functions controlled by the car operating system include breaking, airbag control, combustible mixture control, fuel injection, but also specific functions especially on more sophisticated luxury cars.

Bosch, the leading parts manufacturer in Europe, has introduced OSEK, which is basically an automotive version of the Windows operating system. OSEK hold about 70% of the world automotive operating system market share.

Europeans are already working on a new advanced and improved version of the car OS, expected to be released in 2008.

via: Yomiuri Shinbun

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