SAN FRANCISCO — Mapbox, the leading platform for powering location experiences, has launched its Virtual Head Unit (VHU) in partnership with Arm. This cloud-based solution empowers OEMs to expedite integration, testing, and validation of their navigation systems by virtualizing Arm-based in-vehicle hardware and seamlessly integrating Mapbox’s navigation stack. With the VHU, OEMs can kickstart software validation earlier in the development cycle, accelerating the delivery of innovative, software-driven vehicles to market.
As the industry transitions to Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs), automotive OEMs face mounting pressure to deliver seamless, continuously updated digital experiences similar to smartphones. Traditionally, software validation was constrained by the availability of physical hardware, resulting in delays and logistical challenges. The Mapbox Virtual Head Unit (VHU) overcomes these limitations by providing developers with a ready-to-use, cloud-based virtual machine that emulates Arm-based automotive hardware and integrates the full Mapbox software stack. This solution empowers OEMs to conduct simultaneous development and testing, without the need to wait for in-vehicle hardware. As a result, the VHU accelerates the software release cycle and enables faster innovation, allowing OEMs to refine features and deliver timely updates that align with consumer expectations throughout the entire development process.
“Virtual platforms are critical for the automotive industry to keep pace with the rapid growth of software and reduce time to market,” said Dipti Vachani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Automotive at Arm. “The introduction of Mapbox’s Virtual Head Unit is a significant step forward for realizing the potential of SDVs, enabling OEMs to innovate and optimize on Arm-based hardware much earlier in the development cycle and get solutions to market faster.”
“Arm’s new automotive virtual platforms enable OEMs to innovate with Mapbox features like 3D Live Navigation with end-to-end simulation, validation, and optimization far ahead of building their first test vehicles,” said Cherie Wong, Senior Vice President, Location Services at Mapbox.
The Mapbox VHU provides three key advantages to OEM engineering teams. First, it accelerates the development timeline by enabling immediate software development with virtual hardware, eliminating the need to wait for physical hardware or configure required SDKs, tools, and reference applications. Second, the VHU streamlines performance and regression testing through seamless integration with the Mapbox Console. Lastly, the software developed within VHU is fully compatible with target hardware, simplifying the integration with CI/CD platforms and supporting continuous testing, building, and deployment.
To get started, Mapbox developers can create and manage their VHUs directly within the Mapbox Console, which integrates with other Mapbox tools like Mapbox Studio. For example, testing a new Mapbox style in the VHU is a single click, enabling developers to validate design changes on the target hardware and measure performance directly from the VHU web interface.
Powered by Arm® Neoverse™-based servers, the virtual platforms provided by Corellium leverage Arm-native hardware virtualization offering fast simulations that accelerate software development. This allows Mapbox to seamlessly deploy and scale applications on virtual prototypes of next-generation SoCs, eliminating the need for physical hardware.
The Mapbox VHU is available in Private Preview. Visit mapbox.com/forms/vhu to request access and to stay updated.
