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Telematics |
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| 3rd Wave Automotive Revolution Automotive industry passed the 1st wave revolution that adopted high compression ratio engine and 2nd wave revolution that used microelectronics as control system and now is facing the 3rd wave revolution that combines the telecomunication and infomatics into a car system. 'Automotive telematics', increasingly referred to as just 'telematics' although this ignores other large areas of telematics activity, refers to any kind of in-vehicle information or communication service that relies on a wireless communication link and forms part of the growing M2M market. As such it enables a range of new services and applications that integrate wireless communication technology into cars. The car should then become both more efficient as a product and capable of offering more services to its users - ranging from personalised traffic information, to entertainment to new safety features. For example, as far as efficiency is concerned, a car equipped with a telematics unit can direct a driver to a desired location, while providing real-time traffic information, customised for a given route. Drivers and their passengers may also be able to receive and send voice-activated emails while on the road. A further feature, good for safety, is 'accident alert'. If an accident occurs, this automatically notifies the emergency services of the impact of the collision and the exact location of the vehicle on a map - allowing a faster, more accurate response. Some of the world's leading companies such as UPS and FEDEX already provide detailed tracking and on-line monitoring of shipments. They achieve this by having GPS tracking on their delivery trucks, mobile bar code scanners combined with portable signature recorders. We now take this sort of service for granted, yet this is the leading edge of the design strategies and methodologies telematics market. These applications need robust and reliable solutions for both the mobile / handheld client and the fixed 'base stations' which serve as data gateways for the mobile clients. These 'base stations' may be such things as road site installations, kiosk type information terminals or access points at a factory or depot entrance - it is still to be determined. What is clear, however, is that the demands for technology within OEM products are converging to a common set of hardware and software features. These demands include:
The telematics vendors need to focus on their core-competence and concentrate on the technology and intellectual property that really gives value to the end customer and makes their business successful. The engineering time to develop hardware solutions, integrate embedded software and deploy these products only adds cost and extends the time to roll out the system. Over the last few years there has been a significant trend for major service providers to buy the hardware and software building blocks from third party vendors. These include Embedian and many other companies offering standard single board computers based on industry standard formats such as 3.5-inch SBC, PC/104, computer on module. Embedian's products are known for their low power but high performance systems. There is also a slow shift away from home-grown operating system implementations to the incorporation of standard embedded solutions from Windows CE and embedded Linux. As the demand grows for Internet connectivity, wireless communication and more compelling information displays, the advantages of using well supported standard operating systems become more obvious. When considering the points listed above, along with the inherent requirements for running a comprehensive embedded operating system, it becomes clear why the embedded applications processor family and Embedian product family is ideal for powering a telematics platform. |
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