BlackBerry’s QNX Black Channel Communications to be used in Motional’s Driverless Platform

February 09, 2021

WATERLOO, ONTARIO – February 9, 2021 – BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced its QNX® Black Channel Communications Technology will be used in Motional’s next-generation driverless vehicles. Motional will be BlackBerry’s first customer to use QNX Black Channel Communications for driverless systems. The technology enables Motional to provide safe data communication exchanges within the vehicle's safety systems.

“It’s a real privilege to contribute our technology to Motional, a leader in developing safe, self-driving vehicles,” said John Wall, SVP and Co-Head, BlackBerry Technology Solutions. “QNX Black Channel Communications Technology supports Motional’s mission to deliver ‘safety-first’ systems in an era in which driverless transportation is evolving at a rapid pace.”

“The safety of our vehicles is always Motional’s first priority,” noted Junsung Kim, Vice President of Infrastructure Software, Motional. “We look forward to leveraging BlackBerry QNX Black Channel Communications Technology in our next-generation vehicle development and continuing Motional’s exceptional safety legacy.”

Certified to ISO 26262 ASIL D, the automotive industry’s functional safety standard, QNX Black Channel Communications Technology is based on the safe data communication requirements identified in IEC 61508 and mitigation measures defined in AUTOSAR End-to-End communications protection profiles. The product makes the countless nodes of data communication in embedded systems functionally safe. By safely encapsulating the data being exchanged and validating it with essential safety checks, it protects data communication from systematic software faults, random hardware faults and transient faults while helping in the automatic prevention of damage from these failures, all with minimal impact on system performance.

BlackBerry has a broad portfolio of functional safety-certified software including its QNX® operating system, development tools and middleware for autonomous and connected vehicles. Automakers and Tier 1’s use BlackBerry® QNX® software in their advanced driver assistance, handsfree and infotainment systems, along with their digital instrument clusters and connectivity modules. BlackBerry’s pedigree in safety, security, and continued innovation has led to its QNX technology being embedded in more than 175 million vehicles on the road today.

For more information on BlackBerry products and services for the automotive industry, please visit BlackBerry.com. 

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including 175M cars on the road today.  Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security management, encryption, and embedded systems.  BlackBerry’s vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere. 

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.  

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