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Central Data Service Playground
This is the top level page for the Central Data Service Playground project.
Table of contents:
Sub-pages below this one:
Introduction
The Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) serves as a neutral, open playground for data services both within and outside the vehicle in the context of data-centric architectures. It enables investigation into the internals of these services and how they can be combined. Furthermore, the playground provides a means to publish and collaborate on such work in the open.
Further information can be found in the project documentation site.
The playground was conceived to meet various Covesa needs:
A neutral playground to investigate internals of data services. In the context of data-centric architectures for example.
A neutral playground to investigate, illustrate and disseminate combining data services and the Covesa eco-system with other parts of the vehicle and off-board. For example, to demonstrate how VSS data can be used with VISS for newcomers.
Repeated use of shared terminology, patterns and tools leads to quicker understanding in discussions, shared costs in development and can lead to quicker outcomes.
Jump from 'what is the box' to 'how are we using the box' for example.
The original proposal for the project can be found here.
Project resources
Here you will find information on how the project is managed.
Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
Source repository | |
Documentation | |
Project management | COVESA Github Project Central Data Service Playground |
Chat | Covesa Community Slack channel #data-architecture-pillar: https://covesacommunity.slack.com/archives/C06353TRF5F |
Presentations
Event | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
'26 Spring AMM (Porto, Portugal) | Integrating Open-source Semantic Reasoners to CDSP: Call to Action | COVESA have established the Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) as a neutral, open environment for experimenting with data-centric architectures across VSS/VISS, cloud backends, and adjacent-industry use cases. With the addition of rule-based semantic reasoning in the Knowledge Layer, CDSP is starting to support deterministic, explainable decision logic that moves beyond scattered IF-ELSE code. However, the current Knowledge Layer Server depends on a single non-open source reasoner, which creates practical barriers for open adoption, long-term evaluation, and reproducible benchmarking across the community. This presentation is a call to action to make CDSP “multi-reasoner ready” by integrating permissively licensed open-source semantic reasoners alongside existing implementations. We will report our initiative (BMW and TU Berlin) in implementing and benchmarking open source semantic reasoners. This initiative aims to provide a minimal Reasoner Adapter interface (rules/ontology loading, incremental updates, query/inference API, and explanation hooks), a shared benchmark harness built around representative VSS/VDM scenarios, and a contribution workflow that lets members plug in new engines and compare them fairly. Attendees will leave with three concrete outcomes: (1) an agreed integration blueprint and backlog for an OSS reasoner option in CDSP, (2) a candidate short-list and evaluation criteria (performance, determinism, deployability, licensing), and (3) a roadmap to turn these contributions into a community-maintained capability that accelerates SDV and fleet-data innovation. |
'26 Spring AMM (Porto, Portugal) | COVESA Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) Introduction and Status Update | Abstract: “The COVESA Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) is intended to support collaborative investigation of data centric architectures and for that work to be publishable in the open. After a short project introduction for newcomers, we will cover some of the major newer features and the future roadmap” |
'25 Autumn AMM (Ann Arbor, USA) | Abstract: “The COVESA Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) is intended to support collaborative investigation of data centric architectures and for that work to be publishable in the open. | |
Time Series Database Tech Innovation Summit 2025 (Beijing, China) | Using loTDB & COVESA CDSP for Automotive R&D Inside & Outside of the Vehicle Video:
| The project was invited to provide a video presentation at this hybrid conference for time series database innovation. Abstract: “My talk will introduce data-centric architecture trends in the transition to software defined vehicles as the motivation for the creation of the COVESA Central Data Services Playground. The Playground is an open source toolset for investigating such architectures and openly publishing the results. I will outline how IoTDB is used as the timeseries data store in the Playground and has been integrated with other systems. Along with why it was chosen and some possible improvements. I will also introduce recently merged work that integrates IoTDB timeseries data with AI rules-based Semantic Reasoning using knowledge graphs” |
'25 Spring AMM (Berlin, Germany) | Moving Beyond IF-ELSE: Integrating Rule-Based Semantic AI in CDSP | Abstract: "In the world of problem-solving, probabilistic methods like machine learning are often seen as cutting-edge, offering flexibility and power. However, when the need for clear, deterministic outcomes arises—where every decision needs to be explained and understood—these methods can fall short. Enter classic IF-ELSE programming. It provides a more structured and predictable way to handle decisions. But, as effective as it is, IF-ELSE programming has its own pitfalls. Logic becomes scattered across multiple systems, updates become cumbersome, and it’s hard to trace how certain decisions were made. Recognizing these challenges, the latest AI feature integrated into the CDSP introduces rule-based semantic reasoning, effectively overcoming the limitations of traditional IF-ELSE programming by offering clarity, consistency, and improved traceability in decision-making processes" |
'25 Spring AMM (Berlin, Germany) | Introduction to the COVESA Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) | Updated Introduction to the project. |
'24 Autumn AMM (Detroit, USA) | Discover what the COVESA Central Data Service Playground (CDSP) is, what has been done and where it is going. CDSP What / Why / How | |
'24 Spring AMM (Gothenburg, Sweden) | Central Data Service Playground session series: Introduction, Technical, Use and Workshop. | Data Architecture team track |
'24 Spring AMM (Gothenburg, Sweden) | BMW Research presentation containing suggestions for knowledge layer collaboration |
Early planning
Early planning can be found in the sub-page Early planning. As early planning for a new project is typically messy it is being done there to avoid the later problem of a messy landing page that is hard for later newcomers to understand.