Definition of Vehicle telematics:
***The term telematics is used in a number of ways: *The [integrated]
use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT
(Information and Communications Technology). More specifically it is the
science of sending, receiving and storing information via
telecommunication devices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telematics
During
the 1980's Telematics was limited to safety, security, and navigation.
In those years, the wireless age was just beginning, the U.S. Department
of Defense approved the Global Positioning System (GPS) for civilian
use, and the Internet became the most extensive superhighway in the
world.
By the mid-1990s, car manufacturers had found a
way to capitalize on those developments. The first applications of
Telematics were fleet-vehicle locators for trucking companies and
optional emergency-response systems for luxury car brands such as
Cadillac and Mercedes. Over the last decade, this mode of Telematics has
grown in fits and starts, with some early services, like Ford’s Wingcast,
being scrapped and others becoming standard equipment, like
DaimlerChrysler’s Tele-Aid. OnStar, an emergency-service subsidiary of
General Motors, is an example of today’s most popular Telematics.
How it works...
Telematics
works through an embedded “brain” called the Telematics Communications
Unit, or TCU, the central platform of the system. Like when pushing the
OnStar button, you are sending a signal to the TCU. In turn, the TCU
uses a cellular connection to contact the service provider’s call
center, and in moments, help is on the way. Another driver can summon
help from his service provider, who can pinpoint his location by
communicating with the car’s GPS receiver. Using signals from one of the
24 satellites that orbit the Earth for triangulation, the receiver
accurately calculates its own longitude, latitude, and altitude. The
service provider then directs the driver to his destination.
http://auto.ihs.com/newsletters/auto-apr05-02.jsp
Where do we see telematics today?
Focus of today is telematics in vehicles:
It's probably a good thing that automobiles are
thinking more and more for their distracted drivers...
►Reading street signs
►"Talking” to other vehicles
►Getting around traffic delays
►Conducting remote diagnosis and even providing movies, music and instant communication like e-mail and Internet use on demand.
There are several functions carried out by
telematics, enabling vehicles to wirelessly communicate, navigate and
entertain motorists via complex computerized systems.
Telematics is expected to add up to a $6 billion a
year industry by 2010!
Small, removable chunks of memory and portable media will make accessorizing an automobile in coming years not much different than upgrading a computer.
Microsoft is even in on the game with its TBox, a two-button panel that works with a personal digital assistant (PDA), cell phone or other portable device through voice commands.
Advanced safety functions are just as important as
the entertainment component. Like black box accident data
retrieval and in-vehicle cameras to keep an eye on the road and read
road signs, along with systems that keep drivers in their lanes;
automakers even claim that cameras can monitor where the driver’s eyes
are aimed to ensure alertness, not to mention the sensors being
developed that researchers say can directlyread the motorist’s brain.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06151/694301-114.stm
Some companies, mainly luxury carmakers, report progress in comfort and
convenience, such as isolating sound and temperature to particular areas
of the automobile, customizing smells and starting the vehicle or
adjusting seats by accessing a remote website location.
Other features are in store, like fingerprint recognition, automated
parking and ultrasound technology.
"Malaysia car thieves steal finger"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4396831.stm
That is a perfect Sega way into the Mercedes
S-Class intelligence technology...
http://www.mbusa.com/microsite/s-class/index.jsp
In the 1970s, only 9 percent of a vehicle’s value was derived from
electronics, according to Detroit News, which added that by 2010, the
number of electronics in the vehicle will total 40 percent. And from
there, the number is expected to double only three years after.
Wireless
“It’s all about wireless,” says Phil Magney,
president and principal analyst of the Telematics Research Group.
“(Telematics) is enabling us to do things in the vehicle that were once
only available in the home or office.” Magney refers to such functions
as checking e-mail, surfing the Net and taking advantage of
voice-activated technology to operate the vehicle. “The cockpit of the
vehicle is changing drastically.”
TRG names backseat entertainment, navigation and the use of
Bluetooth-based wireless communications, which enables hands-free cell
phone use inside the car, as leading features for the 2005 model year.
About 28 out of 37 auto manufacturers are offering navigation and
backseat entertainment — found in 10 percent of 2004 MY vehicles. And,
about one-quarter of vehicles sold by the end of the decade are expected
to include backseat entertainment, according to TRG.
Using existing signals
Telematics systems once relied exclusively on satellites to communicate,
but now providers are piggybacking on digital cellular signals
through agreements with carriers like Sprint and Verizon, making the act
of communication more cost-effective and helping the technology reach
“critical mass.”
A network service provider taking advantage of existing cellular
carriers is Aeris.net, which offers its proprietary
MicroBurst mobile
to mobile (M2M) network to 30 North American wireless carriers, covering
350 million people, according to the company.
Aeris.net began as a specialized data network for security systems and
still contracts with such well-known customers as ADT and Brinks.
“What you want is a wireless network that is constantly listening,
always on,” says Dick Gossen, Aeris.net’s president and CEO.
The hardware, which can be found at big box electronic stores and is
made by companies like Audiovox, serves a number of purposes, such as
setting a speed limit on the vehicle and recovering stolen cars.
**For example, if a vehicle is stolen, it will
first transmit its exact location. Then, the vehicle will go into a
shutdown mode: “When the thing comes to a halt, the engine stalls, the
doors lock and the horn goes off,” describes Gossen.
A telematics system should comprise a multi-layered network service that
manages multiple channels, he believes. “You want someone to seamlessly
open the multiple channels at the same time.”
After its purchase of WirelessCar last year, Aeris.net deployed AerFrame
to help manage these channels. If an automobile crash is detected, the
monitoring center can switch from a data channel to a voice channel,
speaking directly to the driver to possibly get more information, as
well as dispatching emergency personnel to the scene. GM’s OnStar uses a
similar system.
“If we own the networks, then we can access all those layers from voice
and data on down with MicroBurst,” continues Gossen.
The transition of cellular providers from analog to digital will also
assist this reliance on cellular networks, says Joerg Dittmer, senior
industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Though many services such as OnStar support both digital and analog
networks, “In 2008, cellular carriers won’t be obliged to support analog
networks anymore,” he adds.
Like TRG, Dittmer agrees Bluetooth is an emerging trend, the advantage
being that cell phones are used as hardware. A disadvantage to this
portability, though, is that stolen vehicle tracking will be compromised
when the hardware is not permanently installed, he adds.
The Story of Onstar
GM plans to install the telematics system in
all of its retail vehicles by the end of 2007, which the Telematics
Research Group believes will bring this technology to the forefront with
a velocity never before seen.
Along with lowering the cost of installing the system, OnStar’s standard
equipment push will heighten awareness of telematics among the general
public, as well as pressure GM’s competitors to follow suit, TRG
believes.
OnStar is a complete solution that takes advantage of multiple wireless
channels for navigation and safety, among a score of other features.
“This is going to revolutionize the amount of services that are going to
be provided,” says Jim Schell, manager of OnStar Communications, who
adds there are currently more than 3 million subscribers to the service.
Source:
http://www.abrn.com/abrn/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=166662
