Alexa Auto SDK

Alexa Auto SDK contains essential client-side software required to integrate Alexa into the automobile. The Alexa Auto SDK provides a runtime engine for communicating with the Alexa service. It also provides interfaces that allow the developer to implement platform specific behavior such as audio input, media playback, template and state rendering, and phone control. It also includes a sample app that demonstrates how to use the Alexa Auto SDK interfaces.

Table of Contents:

What is Included
General Build Requirements
Build the Alexa Auto SDK
Alexa Auto SDK Architecture
Release Notes and Known Issues

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What is Included

The following components are included with the Alexa Auto SDK:

Builder: This directory contains the scripts that allow developers to build modules for a variety of hardware targets.
Modules: This directory contains the Alexa Auto SDK interfaces and source code.
Android Sample App: This directory contains the Android sample application that uses the Alexa Auto SDK to demonstrate end-to-end functionality.

Alexa Auto SDK API Reference documentation is available for Android and C++. Go to the appropriate directory and open the index.html file with a web browser.

Choose a directory:

General Build Requirements

You can build on a Linux, Unix, or macOS host of your choice.

However, we recommend and support running a Docker environment with the following configuration.

macOS Sierra or Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Processor: 2.5 GHz
Memory: 16 Gb
Storage: 1 Gb+ available to use.

Build the Alexa Auto SDK

To build the Alexa Auto SDK you should read and understand the instructions in the Builder README.

The recommended and tested Linux hosts are Ubuntu 16.04 LTS or macOS Sierra.

Supported Target Platforms

Alexa Auto SDK is supported on the following platforms:

Android ARM 32-bit
Android ARM 64-bit (using 32-bit build)
Android x86
QNX ARM 64-bit

Note: For Android targets, Alexa Auto SDK is available as a prebuilt library on GitHub. Read the instructions about accessing and using the library in the samples/android/ directory.

Alexa Auto SDK Architecture Overview

The Alexa Auto SDK is designed to allow flexibility in the integration of Alexa as a part of the Auto in-cabin experience. The Alexa Auto SDK Engine provides runtime support for Alexa and other services and allows the application to integrate with platform specific functionality. Platform specific behavior in Alexa Auto is abstracted into interfaces called "Platform Interfaces." These interfaces should be extended in the application and registered with the Engine.

The Platform Interfaces are documented in their respective module's API documentation.

Note: This diagram shows only some of the available platform interfaces.

Alexa Auto SDK Engine

The runtime implementation of the Alexa Auto SDK is known as the Engine. Modules extend the Engine by providing services and defining the runtime behavior for Platform Interfaces that are registered by application. The application software communicates with the Engine through the API defined by the Platform Interfaces.