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Draft:Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle

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Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle (Eclipse SDV) is an open source initiative for software-defined vehicles coordinated by the Eclipse Foundation. Within the Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle Working Group, vehicle manufacturers, automotive suppliers, semiconductor manufacturers, IT companies, and research institutions collaborate on shared software components and development tools for the automotive industry.[1]

The projects developed under the umbrella of Eclipse SDV cover areas including vehicle middleware, runtime environments, communication protocols, software orchestration, vehicle diagnostics, and the development of vehicle applications.[2]

History

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The Eclipse Foundation announced the formation of the Software Defined Vehicle Working Group in March 2022. Founding members included Accenture, Arm, AVL, Bosch, Capgemini, Continental, ETAS, Microsoft, Red Hat, SUSE, and ZF.[3]

The Working Group was established in response to the growing importance of software in vehicle development.[4] The joint development of non-differentiating software components was intended to reduce development effort and dependencies, allowing participating companies to focus more on brand- and product-specific features.[1]

In the following years, additional member companies and projects joined the initiative. Beyond the development of individual components, its activities also include integration projects, technical working groups, workshops, hackathons, and community meetups around the world, including in Asia.[5] So-called Blueprints combine multiple projects into exemplary, reproducible use cases.[6]

Since 2025, the Eclipse Foundation and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) have been collaborating to establish an open software ecosystem for software-defined vehicles. According to the organizations involved, a corresponding Memorandum of Understanding had attracted 32 participating companies by early 2026.[7][8]

International industry publications have also covered Eclipse SDV, placing the initiative in the context of the development of open software platforms for software-defined vehicles. Automotive World examined the balance between collaborative open source development and the individual interests of participating companies.[9] The US publication Electronic Design focused in particular on the requirements for certifiable open source software in safety-critical applications.[10]

Approach and Objectives

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Eclipse SDV follows an approach known as “Code First”. Unlike earlier initiatives such as AUTOSAR, which initially develop comprehensive specifications, the aim is to produce functional open source code at an early stage. This code can then be tested in practice and further developed incrementally.[1][11]

Areas of activity include:

  • Runtime environments for vehicle software,
  • Middleware and communication protocols,
  • Frameworks for developing vehicle applications,
  • Orchestration and management of distributed software,
  • Diagnostic and update functions,
  • Cloud-based development and operational processes, and
  • Integrated development tools.

The components developed are intended to be reusable by multiple manufacturers and suppliers. Proprietary and competitively differentiating features can be built independently on these shared foundations. According to the participating organizations, this approach is intended to reduce fragmentation in vehicle software and improve interoperability between suppliers and vehicle platforms.[7]

Organization

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The collaboration is based on the Eclipse Software Defined Vehicle Working Group Charter. Strategic and operational oversight is provided by a Steering Committee comprising representatives of the member organizations. Additional committees focus on technical direction, functional safety, and marketing and communications.

The individual software projects follow the Eclipse Foundation’s development and governance processes. Technical decisions are made within the respective project communities. Organizations can join the Working Group under different membership categories, while individual developers can also contribute to the open source projects.

Collaboration with Industry and Research

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Organizations from various parts of the automotive value chain participate in Eclipse SDV. These include vehicle manufacturers, automotive suppliers, semiconductor companies, providers of operating systems and development tools, as well as IT and consulting companies.[12]

In addition, Eclipse SDV is involved in the European research project FEDERATE. Funded by the European Union, this project brings together stakeholders from the automotive and semiconductor industries to develop a shared European ecosystem for software-defined vehicles. Eclipse SDV is listed as one of the participating industry-led SDV initiatives.[13]

The Eclipse Foundation, home to Eclipse SDV, is also a consortium partner in the European research project HAL4SDV. The project focuses on hardware abstraction, standardized interfaces, and safety-critical and non-safety-critical applications in software-defined vehicles.[14]

In its June 2026 Communication on European Tech Sovereignty, accompanied by an EU Open Source Strategy, the European Commission cited Eclipse SDV as an example of industrial open source collaboration in the automotive sector. The paper referred to the initiative’s open governance, technical coordination, and shared development environment for vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, and technology providers.[15]

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Lampinen, Megan (2024-12-05). "Open-source software collaboration "essential" for SDVs". Automotive World. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  2. ↑ "Integration Projects – Eclipse SDV Automotive Landscape". 2025-12-22. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  3. ↑ Vollmer, Alfred (2022-03-09). "Was Bosch, Microsoft, ZF und weitere mit der Eclipse Foundation planen". all-electronics (in German). Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  4. ↑ "Software Defined Vehicle - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  5. ↑ "LG전자, SDV 시대 앞당기는 SW 표준화 이끈다". ZDNet Korea (in Korean). 2025-12-04. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  6. ↑ "Eclipse SDV Blueprints". Eclipse Foundation. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  7. 1 2 "Automotive industry signs Memorandum of Understanding for joint software development based". www.vda.de. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  8. ↑ "VDA and Eclipse Foundation expand software development ecosystem - electrive.com". 2026-01-08. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  9. ↑ "SDV progress: more give-and-take balance on open source". Automotive World. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  10. ↑ William G. Wong (2025-05-13). "Going Open Source with Software-Defined Vehicles". Electronic Design. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  11. ↑ "Eclipse SDV, LG Electronics on the Code-First Philosophy". Auto Electronics. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  12. ↑ "Eclipse SDV Members – Industry Participants". 2025-11-13. Retrieved 2026-10-30.
  13. ↑ "FEDERATE" (in German). Virtual Vehicle Research. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  14. ↑ "Consortium". HAL4SDV. Retrieved 2026-09-22.
  15. ↑ "Communication on European Tech Sovereignty, accompanied by an EU Open Source Strategy | Shaping Europe's digital future". digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2026-11-05.

Category:Software engineering Category:Free software Category:Automotive electronics

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