The U.S. military uses about 30 families of radio systems -- systems that, in many cases, can't communicate with one another. This incompatibility is inconvenient, inefficient, and, on occasion, downright dangerous for military personnel.

It's a serious problem. And to solve it, the Department of Defense (DoD) is investing heavily in software defined radio (SDR). The premise of SDR is simple: Rather than implement filters, signal detectors, and other radio components in hardware (the traditional model), you implement them in upgradeable software. This approach allows a single device to support multiple modulation schemes, wireless protocols, encryption standards, etc; it can also future-proof the device against new or updated standards that hit the airwaves.

The benefits extend far beyond military radios. By using SDR, a variety of products -- including wireless basestations, public-service radios, cellphones, and even in-car telematics systems -- can intelligently adapt to the evolving wireless landscape. Better yet, a single SDR radio can replace several conventional devices. Emergency personnel, for example, can communicate with one another without having to schlep multiple radios, as they often do today...

Back in September, I told you that the QNX Aviage acoustic processing suite had been shortlisted for an Elektra award. Well, I just got the news: QNX Aviage has won.

QNX Aviage is a small, modular software library that eliminates the dedicated hardware typically used to reduce noise and echo in automotive hands-free systems. As a result, automotive suppliers can build these systems for less -- which means that more cars can offer handsfree kits as standard equipment. A good thing, given that more and more jurisdictions are banning handheld cellphones in cars.

The suite has some cool features to help reduce driver distraction. For instance, it can dynamically raise volume levels during periods of high cabin noise, allowing the driver to hear the remote party without straining or fiddling with volume controls. It can also "fill in" the limited bandwidth of cellphone calls, making the remote party's voice fuller and more intelligible...

… WebKit for Neutrino 6.4.0 that is Lots has gone on since my last post on SRR.  After finishing up my parental leave last year  I decided that after working at QNX for nearly 10 years it was time for a change and took on a role at Crank Software. We’re doing a lot of interesting things [...]  Continue Reading >>

- Hey, babe, wanna go for a drive in my '59 Lincoln hybrid?

- What happens when two high-priority threads ignore synchronization mechanisms on shared objects

- The one velociraptor per child project

- Old Lady 1; Mercedes 0

- QNX developers now come better ARMed

One of the really cool things about 6.4.0 is the support for ARM v6 chips. You may recall that ARM v5 chips have a somewhat icky cache implementation, resulting in an unfortunate limititation in the virtual address range per process, and also a limitation in the number of processes in the system.  It’s all described here, [...]  Continue Reading >>

This is why we’ve been so quiet of late - a LOT of work has gone into QNX 6.4.0 - the first full release of the OS in … well, it’s been a while! I’ll be posting about some of the new features in 6.4.0 - but how about first you go and download it! http://www.qnx.com/products/index_sdp_640.html        [...]  Continue Reading >>

The minute I get into work, I always do one thing before anything else: power up my PC. I then take off my jacket, pour myself a coffee, shoot the bull with co-workers, do a couple of neck stretches, listen to voice mail, and, if my PC is ready, sit down to work. Often, though, the machine is still busy, launching gosh knows what.

So if I tell you that an x86-based box can boot faster than you can say "one steamboat", I will totally understand if you think I'm trying to B.S. you. But humor me and check out the following video. It shows how the QNX Neutrino RTOS running on an Intel Atom-based Kontron nanoETXexpress-SP board can boot up (and launch a 3D OpenGL ES program) in 1 second...

Ah, Ottawa in October: The beautiful autumn leaves, the crisp Fall mornings, and the wickedly unpredictable snow storms. Yup, it was Christmas in October this morning, and if you don't believe me, here's proof. First, here's what I saw when I approached QNX headquarters:
 

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Last week, I promised to keep you posted on any updates to the QNX digital instrument cluster. The cluster team has been busy adding navigation displays, weather reports, and other gadgets, so here are two shots of the revised demo, one in day mode and the other in night mode.

Right now, the demo focuses on some of the cool possibilities that digital clusters bring to the car. In the real world, though, turn signals and a few other warning lights might have to be real bulbs or LEDs -- in some countries, that's the law. But even then, a digital cluster could, for example, provide a "backup" turn signal indicator in case a bulb failed.

Click to enlarge.

This year, for the Convergence automotive conference, QNX did something it has never done before: mocked up an entire car interior to demonstrate how automakers can use QNX technology to create digital instrument clusters, rear-seat entertainment systems, handsfree communications units, and other infotainment products. At another level, QNX also wants to show how its technology enables connected automotive systems:

• connected to the cloud (what people my age call the Internet)
• connected to personal devices (e.g. iPods)
• connected to roadside systems and other cars
• connected to other systems within the car

I hope to get some video that demonstrates how QNX intends to achieve this, but in the meantime, here are a few stills from the Convergence tradeshow, which is going full throttle as I write.

In the first photo, QNX representatives are demonstrating a digital instrument cluster (which you can't see) while a rear-seat entertainment system (which you can see) plays in the foreground:

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