Smart Technology Smarter Cars

There’s more fun to today’s automobiles than master ing sharp turns at

high speeds or rolling down the windows and letting the wind blow back your

hair. Cars have become ‘smarter.’ Thanks to an automotive wireless

communications system called ‘telematics’ that incorporates global

positioning system (GPS) technology, many carmakers can now link motorists to

services that provide emergency calling, directions or other location-based

services. This new technology is taking the automotive industry by storm.

The emerging convergence of computing and communications will make our world

much smaller, even while on the road. Tomorrow’s ‘smart cars’ will be

equipped with systems that can provide real-time traffic information and play

music on demand.

Telematics



The term telematics originated in Europe and remains widely used in the

automotive industry. It’s an emerging market of automotive communications

technology, combining wireless voice and data to provide location-specific

security, information and entertainment services to drivers. DamlierChrysler was

one of the first companies to describe their communications technologies as

telematics systems and customers quickly identified with the new term.

The first systems deployed addressed the need for added safety and security

in the car. Motorola pioneered the telematics market in 1996 when it helped Ford

introduce the first emergency response system, called RESCU.

Since Ford’s RESCU system, Motorola has helped many carmakers bring

telematics to drivers worldwide. It capitalises on the converging technologies

that we’re beginning to embrace and take for granted–things like wireless

communications, GPS, embedded software and voice recognition.

Motorola’s core technology components are found in the Telematics

Communications Unit (TCUÔ), which is composed of deeply integrated software and

hardware technologies, including GPS, necessary for delivering telematics

services to drivers. The TCU connects the car and driver to a response centre.

The breadth of services telematics systems can offer motorists is limited by

the amount of data that the cellular infrastructure can support. As network

operators move to global packet radio service (GPRS) and 3G technology, the

packet-data delivered services demanded by drivers will only grow.

Consumer Benefits



In an emergency situation, a telematics system automatically notifies a

response centre when an airbag is deployed. This is especially important when

the driver is unable to manually contact a response centre. In some telematics

systems, automatic notification to the response centre also occurs in a

roll-over accident.

With telematics systems, drivers can request information and quickly receive

help in emergencies or problem situations. Telematics systems in the future will

extend these capabilities even further and bring greater levels of intelligent

transportation to all drivers.

Services available today include:

• Vehicle management services –empowering consumers to remotely unlock car
  
  doors if keys are accidentally locked inside

• Car-theft notification and tracking services that are
  
  triggered by an embedded alarm system in the vehicle

• Convenience voice services –offering users mobile
  
  yellow-page inquiries

• Convenience data services –enabling motorists to access
  
  real-time stock quotes and current news reports

Motorola and its telematics customers recognise that these

technologies directly address the ongoing safety concerns of motorists. These

telematics leaders believe the inherent value of these technologies – the real

improvements they provide in automobile safety and convenience–necessitate

their broader availability in all vehicle classes.

What’s Next?



In the next few years, cars may carry entertainment systems that will play

music on demand, provide route assistance and accompanying traffic information,

deliver personalised news weather and sports or even offer the capability to

even read e-mail.

To date, there are already over 150,000 telematics systems on

the road in North America and Europe. The Strategis Group, an analyst firm based

in Washington D.C., and Frost & Sullivan both predict that these numbers

will increase dramatically in the next three years. Experts estimate the

telematics market will reach at least $8 billion by 2003.

Motorola is developing personal area network technologies

that will–in the future–allow seamless integration between cars and portable

wireless devices. In addition, Motorola will help enable wireless delivery of

entertainment on demand, with all its attendant e-commerce opportunities.

What can drivers expect to see coming down the telematics

highway in the near future?

• More information services – ranging from more advanced
  
  safety services messaging and entertainment–as high-speed packet-data
  
  technology proliferates

• Strong collaborative networks–set up by private
  
  companies, public organisations and individual consumers–to satisfy the
  
  demand for new levels of driver-automobile interaction

• Up-to-date travel guides, e-mail and voicemail access,
  
  aeroplane and hotel reservations, and server-based navigation incorporating
  
  real-time road conditions

• On-board safety, convenience and entertainment services.

In the Future



The future of telematics cannot be realised by one company acting alone. We

must strive toward a telematics ecosystem that actively involves consumers,

automobile manufacturers and technology companies in ensuring that telematics is

adopted and embraced at the mass-market level.

Automobile manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, BMW,

Nissan and Renault bring years of automotive manufacturing expertise and

experience to the development of telematics. Technology companies are able to

leverage their experience in developing and manufacturing wireless data

protocols and communications, cellular network solutions and remote wireless

data services.

The future of the telematics market will depend on the industry’s ability

to make telematics products and services available and economical for mainstream

consumers. Consumers want one package that is easy to use, affordable and

provides a solution to their needs. In order to deliver this solution,

automotive, technology and service companies must develop a service and pricing

policy that will drive proliferation of telematics products in the mass consumer

market.

Driving into the Future

Motorola and AT&T Wireless are working together to develop and produce

the first custom embed ded communications engines for both GSM-GPRS and AMPS

(analog) technologies. Drivers will have cellular network access with seamless

coverage throughout North America. The GSM product will be designed to provide

faster voice and data communication for telematics services and enable

Telematics Control Units (TCUs) to link up with a call center from AT&T

Wireless’ growing GSM/GPRS network and existing AMPS networks in North

America. Mercedes-Benz plans to be the first company to offer the new

communications engine and TCU as a standard feature on all vehicles beginning

mid-2003. Better start saving your pennies cause that’s just a short 1.5 years

from now!

Using an enhanced, telematics-friendly, digital network, AT&T Wireless

will provide the national cellular network services to support communication

between vehicles and the call center. As a result, vehicle and driver location

data from the GPS receiver should reach the call center more quickly, resulting

in faster response times from call centers in emergency situations, when time is

a critical factor. (You mean like when you’re looking for ice cream!)

This technology will also provide enhanced features such as server-based

navigation, which enables drivers to receive dynamic navigation information,

updated live traffic reports and automatic re-routing services for individually

selected destinations. In addition, the new communications engines have the

capability to provide access to personalized information services such as maps,

driving directions, e-mail and yellow page references for finding points of

interest like the nearest video store, cow-pattie toss competition, or gas

station.

Initially, this product and network are being developed as a next-generation

telematics system for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. In the future, Motorola and

AT&T Wireless plan to extend this product offering to other automotive

customers and to system integrators.