An introduction of Android Auto

1. Introduction of Android
Auto
Architecture and rationales
Shamelessly by Zaicheng.Qi@Harman.com

2. What’s the current problems
● No easy and standard user experience
● No customization for each driver
● No standard os/platform
● No developer friendly APIs
● No easy way to distribute apps
● No standard way to integrate with the cloud
services

3. What’s the current problems
● No standard way to fetch and use the in-car
sensor data
● No standard hardware and/or software stack
● No good base to encourage innovation
● Complicated and messy security guidelines
● System cannot upgrade easily

4. History of Android Auto
● Navistep with Audi in 2005
○ Integrate Google maps in Audi cars
● Navicast in 2010
○ Prototype and explore the way to implement the
solution
● Android Auto in 2014
○ Preview of Android Auto announced at Google IO
2014

5. Why Android Auto
● Solves the user and developer problems
○ Customised and easy to use UX
○ Friendly and proven Android platform
● Solves the vendor and producer problems
○ Unified software stack
○ Unified protocol to communicate with in-car IVI
○ Qualified and rapid production
○ Safe to play with Android Auto
● Realistic and progressively

6. Why Android Auto
● Unified platform with differentiations
○ Different phone/tablet apps
○ Different branding/logo and features on the cast
screen
● Easy to integrate and ship
○ Implement the Android Auto Link protocol on the in-
car IVI system(Android/QNX/Linux/Windows)
○ Android phone/tablet with Android Auto services

7. Hardware of Android Auto
● Audio device in the car
● Display in the car
● Usb/other connectivity device in the car
● Bluetooth device in the car
● Input devices(buttons and sticks, etc) in the
car
● Sensor networks in the car

8. Hardware of Android Auto
● Android device with Android L or later
● Android device with Android auto service
○ Android auto service comes with Google play
service

9. Software on Android phone/tablet
● Android auto service(source)
● Google play service
● Third party apps which implement the
Android auto features
● Android auto sdk

10. Software on in-car IVI system
● Android auto service lib(target)
● Implement the android auto hal lib
○ Adapt input
○ Adapt audio device control
○ Adapt bluetooth
○ Adapt sensor data if possible
○ Adapt display

11. The bridge - Android auto link
● Build map between in-car devices and
Android device
○ Android < input > in-car controllers
○ Android < sensor data > in-car sensor gateway
○ Android < audio > in-car stereo audio devices
○ Android < video > in-car IVI display
○ Android < bluetooth > in-car bt connectivity

12. Rationales - why it works
● Realistic
○ Never get into the mud of problems
○ Don’t try to solve the big problem
○ Fill the most important needs
● Simple
○ The idea behind is very simple
● Open
○ Combine the classic IVI manufacturers with the new
phone manufacturers

13. Rationales - why it works
● Share
○ Share value with the partners
○ Over 40 partners joined OAA to push Android Auto
● Courage
○ Invest strategically

14. Taste of the preview APIs
● Notifications
○ Phone notifications will be mirrored on the in-car
display
● Messages
○ Selected messages will be mirrored on the in-car
display
● Media
○ The framework skeletons the Media applications on
the in-car display, the UX is controlled

15. So what?
● The emerge of Android Auto and iOS
Carplay
○ Be ready for the change
○ Join the crowd and do it better to get us a better
position
○ Reconsider the future product architectures, make
Android Auto and Carplay a good feature of our
product

16. Let’s talk about China
● No google play services means no Android
Auto source implementation
● Are we allowed to implement a compatible
Android Auto service for the Chinese
phones/tablets
● Cooperate with the internet companies,
Baidu/Xiaomi, but no Tencent/Alibaba

17. Let’s talk about China
● Will the Android Auto Link protocol be open
sourced?
● What’s the business model of working with
Google Android Auto?

18. Resources
● Android Auto Developers
● Android Auto
● OAA
● Google IO 14 Android Auto
● Google IO 14 Android Auto Under the hood

19. 天下大势，浩浩荡荡
顺之者昌，逆之者亡