Canadian firm BlackBerry has expanded its partnership with Baidu, whose high-definition maps will run on the Blackberry QNX Neutrino Real-time Operating System (RTOS) and will be mass-produced in the forthcoming GAC New Energy Aion models from the EV arm of GAC Group.

The moves build on Baidu’s January 2018 agreement to make BlackBerry QNX OS the foundation for Baidu’s ‘Apollo’ autonomous driving open platform.

Baidu is one of the few high-definition map vendors with an Automotive SPICE certification from TÜV Rheinland – an industry certification that addresses rigid requirements for the software development process for Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers. Baidu’s high-definition maps are designed for global car makers looking to launch next generation connected and autonomous vehicles in China.

The QNX Neutrino RTOS foundation for Baidu’s high-definition maps is a robust real-time microkernel operating system that provides deterministic performance as well as flexibility to address the limited resources of the embedded system.

“With BlackBerry QNX’s embedded software as its foundation, Baidu has made significant progress as part of its Apollo platform in establishing a commercial ecosystem for innovative technologies that OEMs can leverage for their next generation vehicles,” said Dhiraj Handa, VP, Channel, Partners and APAC, BlackBerry Technology Solutions. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with Baidu to help develop and deploy leading edge autonomous driving and connected vehicle technologies to meet the ever increasing mission-critical and security requirements of the automotive industry.”

“We aim to provide car manufacturers with a clear and fast path to the production of autonomous vehicles, with safety and security as the top priority. The BlackBerry QNX software performs well in functional safety, network security and reliability, while Baidu has achieved long-term development in artificial intelligence and deep learning. Together, we can help car manufacturers quickly produce safe autonomous vehicles and promote the development collaboratively of the intelligent networked automobile industry,” said Wang Yunpeng, Senior Director of Technology Department of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Group.