NAVIGATION TECHNOLOGIES UNVEILS SDAL FORMAT
The digital map maker issues a limited public release of its proposed interim solution to map media interchangeability

Posted On:
Aug. 24, 1999

Best, The Netherlands, 24 August 1999 - Navigation Technologies today announced it has issued a limited release of the technical specification for SDAL Format to a select group of customers and automobile manufacturers.

The technical specification for SDAL Format's Physical Storage Format was publicly offered to European auto makers at an ERTICO-sponsored meeting attended by representatives from European auto manufacturers 8 June in Brussels. "Our goal is to test its usability with them before making it publicly available," says Salahuddin Khan, Navigation Technologies' Vice President Strategic Initiatives and Software Services. "The draft is available to any auto manufacturer, any existing licensee of SDAL, and any SDAL evaluation licensee acting in good faith to implement the format. Once all feedback has been collected regarding the document's layout, format, and usability, the specification document will be published. We expect this to occur within the next few months."

Industry manufacturers and analysts agree a solution to map media interchangeability is critical to spur market growth in the navigation category. Navigation Technologies developed SDAL Format in response to customers' requests for an interim solution to interchangeability. Navigation Technologies creates the digital maps used in 9 out of 10 navigation systems on the road today in Europe, and virtually every navigation system deployed in North America.

Microsoft, Magellan, Pioneer, Panasonic, Clarion, and others already have launched or will soon launch products using SDAL Format. Navigation Technologies says it is pleased by its customers' faith in the commercial viability of SDAL Format and that its products will be made to comply with an industry standard when one is approved.

Other proposed interchangeability solutions have called for standardising the Application Programming Interface (API). Navigation Technologies agrees that an API is indeed needed to promote portability, but that it would do little to enable true interchangeability. "An API approach would require each disk to carry the data access software for the full range of chip sets and operating systems," says Khan. "Our goal should be the creation of map media that is pure content, free of the burden of API code."

The NAVTECH map database is currently used by virtually all major automotive and navigation system manufacturers. It was Navigation Technologies' customers who several years ago suggested that the company provide an interim solution to map media interchangeability while ISO and other industry organisations worked toward a formally-sanctioned standard. Navigation Technologies' response was to create SDAL Format by working closely with 27 customers, including navigation system makers like Pioneer and VDO as well as auto manufacturers such as BMW and Daimler-Chrysler. Throughout, Navigation Technologies has shared regular progress reports of SDAL's development as well as important elements of SDAL specifications with the standards organisation ISO in Working Group TC204, which is charged with the development of an approved standard.

Panasonic, set to launch an SDAL-based system in Europe later this year, says SDAL Format offers an opportunity to spur navigation market growth. "Achieving CD compatibility is one of the most important cornerstones in building strong navigation markets in Europe and the U.S.," said Keiichi Sugimoto, Senior Coordinator of Automotive Consumer Electronics Division at Panasonic. "SDAL Format is an important step toward resolving the issue of compatibility."