ARM teams on virtual head unit development
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ARM is working with Mapbox in the US on a cloud-based Virtual Head Unit (VHU) for automotive designs.
The design speeds up integration, testing, and validation of navigation systems by virtualising ARM-based in-vehicle hardware integrated with the Mapbox navigation stack. With the VHU, OEMs can start software validation earlier in the development cycle, accelerating the development of software-driven vehicles.
Traditionally, software validation was constrained by the availability of physical hardware, resulting in delays and logistical challenges. The Mapbox Virtual Head Unit (VHU) overcomes these limitations by providing developers with a ready-to-use, cloud-based virtual machine that emulates Arm-based automotive hardware and integrates the full Mapbox software stack.
The Mapbox VHU provides three key advantages to OEM engineering teams. First, it accelerates the development timeline by enabling immediate software development with virtual hardware, eliminating the need to wait for physical hardware or configure required SDKs, tools, and reference applications.
Second, the VHU streamlines performance and regression testing through seamless integration with the Mapbox Console.
Lastly, the software developed within VHU is fully compatible with target hardware, simplifying the integration with CI/CD platforms and supporting continuous testing, building, and deployment.
Mapbox developers can create and manage their VHUs directly within the Mapbox Console, which integrates with other Mapbox tools like Mapbox Studio. For example, testing a new Mapbox style in the VHU is a single click, enabling developers to validate design changes on the target hardware and measure performance directly from the VHU web interface.
“Virtual platforms are critical for the automotive industry to keep pace with the rapid growth of software and reduce time to market,” said Dipti Vachani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Automotive at Arm. “The introduction of Mapbox’s Virtual Head Unit is a significant step forward for realizing the potential of SDVs, enabling OEMs to innovate and optimize on Arm-based hardware much earlier in the development cycle and get solutions to market faster.”
“ARM’s new automotive virtual platforms enable OEMs to innovate with Mapbox features like 3D Live Navigation with end-to-end simulation, validation, and optimization far ahead of building their first test vehicles,” said Cherie Wong, Senior Vice President, Location Services at Mapbox.
The VHU runs on ARM Neoverse-based servers with virtual platforms provided by Corellium that tap into the ARM-native hardware virtualization for fast simulation.
The Mapbox VHU is available in Private Preview.
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