The platform

One runtime. Two silicon targets..

DOT OS is a shared device runtime. The same application framework, design system, update pipeline and telemetry schema build for a handset SoC and for a cockpit domain controller. Below the framework the two diverge — above it, they are the same product.

One source tree. Two silicon targets. The divergence starts at the hardware abstraction layer and nowhere above it.

Architecture

Where the two targets diverge.

Everything above the abstraction layer builds once. Below it, a handset SoC and a cockpit domain controller are different machines with different safety obligations, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Handset targetDOT OSCockpit target
ExperienceShared
Design system
DOT Signal
DOT Link
First-party apps
FrameworkShared
App runtime
Policy engine
OTA & rollback
Telemetry schema
Platform servicesMostly shared
Identity & keys
Connectivity
Media pipeline
Sensor fusion
AbstractionPer target
Handset HAL
Vehicle HAL
Display manager
Power manager
Kernel & siliconDiverges
Handset SoC
Cockpit SoC
Hypervisor
Safety MCU
One source tree, both targetsTarget-specific

Components

The four things we build.

DOT OS

01 / 04

Unified device runtime

An AOSP-derived handset build and an Android Automotive OS cockpit build produced from one source tree. One design system, one update pipeline, one telemetry schema.

Handset base
AOSP 15
Cockpit base
AAOS 15
Shared code
Framework and above
Update model
A/B seamless, signed

AC-1

02 / 04

Cockpit reference platform

A three-display cockpit reference: driver cluster, centre stack and passenger display driven from a single domain controller, with the safety-relevant cluster isolated behind a hypervisor.

Displays
3 (cluster / centre / passenger)
Isolation
Type-1 hypervisor
Cluster target
Safety-isolated partition
Cold start target
First frame under 2 s

DOT Link

03 / 04

Phone-to-car continuity

The handset is the identity. Approach the car and your seat, mirrors, climate, audio and navigation state are already there. Walk away and the car forgets you.

Key
UWB + BLE digital key
Handover
Navigation, media, calls
Profile
Seat, mirror, HVAC, audio
Fallback
NFC card, offline

DOT Signal

04 / 04

Ambient interaction language

A light-and-haptic vocabulary shared between the phone and the cabin. Information you can read without looking at a screen, and without taking your eyes off the road.

Channels
Light, haptic, spatial audio
Surfaces
Handset, door line, dash line
Grammar
Composable patterns
Eyes-off
Designed for glance-free use

Continuity

Three channels, one identity.

DOT Link is the argument for the whole platform. If the handset and the cockpit genuinely share a runtime, continuity is close to free; if they do not, it is a standing integration cost that never goes away.

HANDSETVEHICLEDIGITAL KEY — UWB + BLEPROFILE — SEAT · MIRROR · HVACSESSION — NAV · MEDIA · CALLS
01

One design system

Type scale, spacing, motion and the DOT Signal light grammar are defined once and consumed by both targets. A change lands in both places or it lands in neither.

02

One update pipeline

Signed, A/B, resumable, with rollback. The cockpit path additionally emits the evidence a UN R156 type approval needs, as a by-product of a normal release.

03

One telemetry schema

Field data from a handset and from a vehicle arrive in the same shape, so a regression can be compared across both without a translation layer nobody maintains.

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Platform · DOT OS

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