SmartDeviceLink (SDL)
SmartDeviceLink (SDL) is a standard set of protocols and messages that connect applications on a smartphone to a vehicle head unit. This messaging enables a consumer to interact with their application using common in-vehicle interfaces such as a touch screen display, embedded voice recognition, steering wheel controls and various vehicle knobs and buttons. There are three main components that make up the SDL ecosystem.
- The Core component is the software which Vehicle Manufacturers (OEMs) implement in their vehicle head units. Integrating this component into their head unit and HMI based on a set of guidelines and templates enables access to various smartphone applications.
- The optional SDL Server can be used by Vehicle OEMs to update application policies and gather usage information for connected applications.
- The iOS and Android libraries are implemented by app developers into their applications to enable command and control via the connected head unit.
Pull Requests Welcome!
Documentation
SDL Core
The Core component of SDL runs on a vehicle's computing system (head unit). Core’s primary responsibility is to pass messages between connected smartphone applications and the vehicle HMI, and pass notifications from the vehicle to those applications. It can connect a smartphone to a vehicle's head unit via a variety of transport protocols such as Bluetooth, USB, Android AOA, and TCP. Once a connection is established, Core discovers compatible applications and displays them to the driver for interaction via voice or display. The core component is implemented into the vehicle HMI based on the integration guidelines above. The core component is configured to follow a set of policies defined in a policy database and updated by a policy server. The messaging between a connected application and core is defined by the Mobile API and the messaging between sdl core and the vehicle is defined by the HMI API.
Project Status
We're ramping up our efforts to get SmartDeviceLink developed and maintained directly in the open. For the Mobile libraries, we're expecting better integration soon, SDL Core is slightly more complicated. We are currently working on generating documentation, creating a developer portal, an open forum, Mobile validation, and everything else that we've been asked for to renew the community's interest in this project. From a technical standpoint, SDL is stable, and the most work is being put into making it a more robust solution for app connectivity. We are, however, definitely looking for and interested in other people and company's contributions to SDL whether it be feature based, bug fixes, healthy conversation, or even just suggestions for improvement.
Getting Started
A quick guide to installing, configuring, and running an instance of the SDL Core on a linux OS.
- Clone this repository
- Create a folder for your build outside of the source folder and run
cmake {path_to_sdl_core_source_folder} from the build folder you created
- If there are any dependency issues, install missing dependencies
- Run the following commands to compile and install smartdevicelink
%make
%make install
Start SDL Core
Once SDL Core is compiled and installed you can start it from the executable in the bin folder
%cd bin/
%./start.sh
Start WEB HMI
Web HMI is separated from SDL Core and located in another repository. So to make it workable please do next steps.
- Clone http://github.com/smartdevicelink/sdl_hmi.git
- Follow the instruction from readme file in sdl_hmi repository.
A quick note about dependencies
The dependencies for SDL Core vary based on the configuration. You can change SDL Core's configuration in the top level CMakeLists.txt. We have defaulted this file to a configuration which we believe is common for people who are interested in getting up and running quickly, generally on a Linux VM.
Dependencies list
