Telemetics in China the Prospective from Yaxon Networks (Xiamen, China)

http://gps.pconline.com.cn/xp/factory/0911/1909677.html

Quoted:
" 2009年，注定会在中国汽车智能信息服务发展的历程上写下浓墨重彩的一笔。

尽管受到2008年经济危机等多重因素的影响，但1-6月份乘用车市场，产销441.89万辆和453.38万辆，同比分别增长20.96%和25.62%的增幅依然力助中国成为全球最大的汽车生产国之一。火爆的车市与汽车消费观念的日趋成熟，共同唤起消费者对汽车相关服务的强烈需求，其关注点开始逐渐从单纯的购买与使用汽车，向对汽车消费后续服务及配套服务转移。

另一组来自公安部的数据显示，至2009年8月底，全国机动车保有量已经达到1.8亿辆，汽车驾驶员超过1.15亿。科技的进步与社会的发展，促使这个庞大群体中的相当一部分人有了一个共同的体会，汽车已经不再像几年前一样仅仅纯粹是从某一点到另一点的运输工具，它在我们的生活中正在扮演起更多的角色。出行方式的彻底改变以及在汽车上度过时间的大幅增加，让人们对“汽车生活”开始有了新的需求。大家渴望在汽车上就可实时接收个人化、个性化、位置化的信息和娱乐服务。正是在这样的背景下，汽车智能信息服务系统——“Telematics”的概念逐渐走进了中国千万寻常百姓的生活。

蓄势终发 Telematics中国时刻即将到来

融合了汽车、通信、IT领域前沿技术的Telematics（汽车远程信息服务），被誉为20世纪汽车业的第三次革命。全球Telematics产业发展早在上世纪90年代就以开始。尤其在欧美、日韩等发达国家及地区获得较快发展。特别是近几年，随着市场急速发展，世界汽车制造企业普遍把开发与普及Telematics作为当务之急，并出现了诸如ATX科技、Mannesmann Passo、 Tegaron和 Trafficmaster等大量专业的Telematics服务商。尤其是北美地区的Telematics产业发展，已经相对成熟。

在我国，汽车智能信息服务刚刚起步，市场也处于导入阶段，尚未形成完整的产业链。但随着汽车与汽车电子行业的发展以及无线传输方式的成熟，使得中国部分汽车信息服务领域，如车载导航业务的发展具备了相当坚实的基础条件，同时形成了颇为可观的市场规模。

早在2002年，丰田在中国市场推出的首款导航车型—威驰，成为中国汽车导航市场发展的始作推动力，并被视为该市场在中国正式启动的标志之一。之后几年间，随着中国汽车与通讯产业巨大市场的高速发展，更是吸引了众多国内先行者与国外巨头们对此领域的共同关注与探索。

2004年12月，一直领跑中国车载GPS领域行业市场的厦门雅迅网路股份有限公司开始了中国“telematics”正真意义上的商用探索，率先组建远程信息服务中心，并推出第一代汽车远程通信信息终端—“哈车宝”。

2008年7月，日产抢在奥运前夕，在北京推出了结合交通信息的中国首个车载Telematics服务--“星翼”； 同年8月，奥迪在北京奥运期间在车载前装导航终端上推出基于TMC的交通信息。

2009年3月25日，装备了G-BOOK系统的雷克萨斯第三代RX350登陆中国市场，标志着由汽车厂商主导的Telematics服务在中国正式商用。

2009年6月，作为北美市场之外的首家OnStar信息服务业务机构，上海OnStar公司宣布，将于今年12月正式为上海通用汽车在中国生产、销售的汽车提供OnStar服务，这些服务将包括碰撞自动求助、紧急救援协助、车门远程应急开启、全程音控领航、车况检测报告等。

2009年8月18日，曾经在中国首开“Telematics”探索之路的厦门雅迅网络股份有限公司凭借其在行业市场多年积累的技术领先性和服务的完备性，将基于通信平台的联网功能和中心服务平台的Telematics服务相结合起来，正式推出“雅迅T818”双模车载导航仪。这种能解决地图升级麻烦的差异化产品与服务，填补了目前国内这一汽车信息服务的空白点，极大推动了国内车载导航服务理念的普及进程。
2009年8月26日，中广移动正式更名为中广传播，并正式发布新导航业务品牌“睛彩”。伴随着中广传播“睛彩”业务的推出，动态交通导航业务也正式开始进入商业化运作的实质阶段。

此外，在通用、丰田、日产的推动下，还有另外8家汽车厂商计划于2013年之前在中国推出Telematics服务……

一时间，整车厂商，电信运营商，GPS厂商……已经集体厉兵秣马、蓄势待发，中国车载信息服务在经过了初期阶段的含蓄后，大有一副在今年全面爆发之势。业内普遍预测，未来几年，随着移动运营商3G建设以及国家对ITS（智能交通系统）重视程度的提高，国内Telematics服务必将迎来一个高速发展的机遇期。甚至有更多业内声音都把2009年定位为Telematics的中国元年。

Telematics产业蓝图已然呼之欲出。

双模导航 助力Telematics快速发展

在丰田推出G-BOOK系统之前，中国市场上还缺少真正意义上的Telematics系统及服务。取而代之的，是各类单项的Telematics服务，如车载导航、失窃车辆追踪、路边救援等。

消费电子，尤其是手持终端的迅速发展，如PDA、PND等产品，极大推动了这些单项服务的普及，道路导航便是其中受益最大与发展最快的服务项目之一。

而另一个幕后推手，则是汽车保有量迅猛提升的同时，带来的令整个社会困扰的城市交通问题。面对不断恶化的交通现状，动态导航取代传统的静态导航已成为必然趋势，而检验动态交通导航业务成功与否的关键就在于能否给驾驶者提供更及时、有用的交通信息。这是一个无论是行业的硬件生产商还是软件制造商都不能回避的问题。

以今天国内车载导航领域为例，已经有不少厂商正在积极研发和相继推出与此有关的服务内容。长虹WND430、城际高科推出的城际通广达GD200、以及雅迅公司在今年强势推出的雅迅T818等车载导航产品都是其中的代表。据了解，目前的解决方案主要有两种：一种是在原来导航的基础上加入通信模块，采用的WINCE的平台。但这种方案的普遍存在系统速度慢、话音效果差、GPRS和通话的切换速度慢等问题。而另一种则是在手机的平台上加入 GPS模块，完整的引入导航理念的设计。该设计方案能有效克服采用WINCE导致的上述缺陷。但是在系统的通用性上还需要有进一步的突破与完善。厦门雅迅公司和城际高科的产品应该是在后一种解决方案中处理较为理想的佼佼者。

的确，无论是业内人士还是用户，大家越发深刻的共同感受是，今天我们所能体验到的汽车导航服务，已经不能再是目之所及的简单的表面服务了。创造个性化、差异化、舒适化的导航体验以及人性化的服务理念必将成为未来竞争与发展的焦点。

但回顾目前世面上的车载GPS导航产品，还基本是采用本机地图导航的模式。就是先调用拷贝到GPS导航仪内存或者智能存储卡上地图信息，再通过GPS导航仪设备计算并规划出到达目的地的路径，从而达到导航的目的。为了让导航更准确，GPS地图厂商每隔一段时间就会更新一次地图。相应的，GPS导航设备的持有者也必须配合进行一次地图升级操作。这已经成为目前GPS行业的固定模式。

很显然，由于城市规划和道路建设的飞速变化，本机地图导航的模式已经逐渐不能适应市场的需求。由此，“地图实时更新导航”的概念便应运而生。这一功能的应用，让使用者不必再去考虑升级导航仪内存或者存储卡上的地图资料，就能轻松通过互联网接入，实现读取中心地图最新信息并下载，再通过中心服务器计算，迅速规划出要到达目的地的路径信息并下发到设备。

使用者无需改变自己的操作方法；无需害怕遇到偏僻或者新开的道路，GPS设备无法导航；无需考虑每年都要的升级花费，不用升级照样能使用新地图，在免升级的同时，还能有效地避免本机地图因为没升级造成信息点不全的缺点；也可以有效避免驾驶员在驾车忙碌时去点击屏幕，或者根本无暇设定目的地而带来的安全隐患，保证驾乘人员的出行安全。
__箰讆__430__璺拶__

同时所有的GPS用户还将成为地图的实时更新参与者。只要有了GPS用户的参与实践，其所走过的路线信息记录下来后将可以发到服务中心实现与所有GPS用户的共享。这将极大地避免目前专业GPS地图公司每年花费大量人力物力也无法实现地图有效更新的弊端。有效将资源进行合理的重组与利用。


突破传统的固有模式，不仅支持本机地图导航模式，还能实现地图实时更新导航，并能够在两种功能之间进行自由切换，综合了两种导航模式优势的“双模导航”， 相比较采用单一的本机地图导航的产品而言，无论从性能还是应用性方面，显然优势明显。



这也印证了雅迅科技公司总经理黄朝阳的观点，GPS的竞争要点在于包括地图在内的后台管理软件，雅迅的GPS产品是基于互联网GPS导航，拥有统一信息中心，利用网络通信的超强实时处理能力，带给GPS实时服务的创新理念。不久前刚刚问市的“雅迅T818”双模导航仪，正是在这一理念的指引下诞生的新一代导航产品。

另据了解，为迎接3G网络业务的推出，雅迅公司已经开始着手推出3G业务产品，届时，车载GPS就真正成为集视频、通话、上网及安保等功能为一体的全能“车辆管家”。

产业合作 共谋Telematics未来大局

Telematics的出现是源于汽车消费者对于汽车安全性、效率性、便捷性、舒适性等多方面的、不断增长的需求。同时，无线通讯技术的不断成熟与广泛运用，使得各大汽车厂商有了将汽车与无线通讯技术相结合的想法，从而实现向汽车消费者提供相关服务的目的。

不少业内人士认为，中国汽车市场正渐趋成熟，整车销售也开始由价格竞争转向服务和品牌的竞争，而能够不断延伸扩展的Telematics服务项目，将帮助整车厂商赢得更多客户的青睐。

来自麦肯锡公司的一份研究报告称，在理想情况下，Telematics服务的全球市场总值将高达1000亿美元。 这个数字足以坚定Telematics服务提供商的信心，并吸引更多汽车厂商涉足这一领域。事实也的确如此，在国外，目前几乎大部分知名品牌都已经在尝试开拓这一市场。

Telematics所涉及的各个领域的需求，将产业结构中包括：政府、汽车厂商、GPS服务商、电信运营商、TSP业者紧密的串联在一起，并极有望让汽车产业透过Telematics从制造业转型为服务业，成为带动通信、金融、甚至是医疗与餐饮行业……的龙头产业。

随着Telematics服务的广泛应用以及产业链内厂商的推动，在经历了起步时期的蹒跚之后，全球Telematics产业正稳步进入一个较为理性的增长阶段。Telematics产业将逐步壮大。同时，产业链上相关企业之间的合作关系将随着Telematics市场规模的逐步扩大而不断得到加深，正是这样的背景，加快了车载Telematics服务进入中国汽车消费市场的步伐。促进商业模式将不断完善，并最终推动中国Telematics在多领域的应用发展。

汽车终于赶上了马车！”

这是2007年底在接受采访中，东京大学名誉教授山崎弘郎先生开场的感言。言下之意是回顾过去百年汽车产业的发展，汽车虽然在机械指标方面，不断凌驾于马车之上。然而直到最近，在开始利用电子通信技术，以及配备雷达、GPS、无线通信等多种传感器与对外通信能力后，汽车才开始被赋予了真正的生命，具备了马一样的感觉和智慧，并逐渐开始在办公室与住家间，构成一个无缝隙的崭新生活环境。"

Press Release: Successful eCall demonstration by Qualcomm and Hughes Telematics

Source: http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=108181

"Successful eCall demonstration by Qualcomm and Hughes TelematicsWEBWIRE – Friday, November 20, 2009
First In-vehicle Emergency Calls over Wireless Networks Completed

SAN DIEGO - Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, and Hughes Telematics, Inc. (HTI), a leader in providing next generation telematics solutions, have successfully demonstrated the data transmission technology of the upcoming pan-European, in-vehicle emergency call (eCall) standard over commercial wireless networks at the 12th eSafety Forum Plenary meeting, “eCall Summit”, held in Brussels, Belgium on October 29, 2009.

The use of eCall to deploy emergency assistance will save lives and reduce the social burden of road accidents. The creation of eCall standards and requirements has been triggered by the eSaftety Forum, an initiative of the relevant stakeholders, brought together by the European Commission. An eCall is generated either manually by vehicle occupants, or automatically via activation of in-vehicle sensors, in the case when an accident occurs. When activated, the eCall-enabled, in-vehicle system establishes a 112-voice connection directly with the relevant Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). At the same time, a Minimum Set of Data- including key information about the accident such as time, location and vehicle description - is sent to the PSAP operator receiving the voice call.

Technology provided by HTI and Qualcomm, including an eCall in-band modem, was used to make a call to a prototype of an eCall-enabled PSAP located in Germany. Once the voice call was established, the eCall in-band modem protocol was used to transmit the Minimum Set of Data to the PSAP. The eCall modem was fully integrated on the Qualcomm QSC6270™ chipset embedded in the demonstration unit.

“Safety and security is the cornerstone of our telematics offering,” said Erik Goldman, president of Hughes Telematics, Inc. “Working with Qualcomm to support this initiative in Europe confirms our commitment to the global industry to enhance driver safety and provide a timely and efficient response during emergency situations.”

“Qualcomm has spent the last several years developing eCall technology and standards to further the public objective of helping to save lives on roads,” explains Ed Tiedemann, senior vice president of engineering at Qualcomm. “We are pleased to collaborate with Hughes Telematics on developing and demonstrating an eCall solution that will ultimately enable automakers to integrate this capability in all vehicles"

About Hughes Telematics, Inc.
Hughes Telematics, Inc. (NYSE Amex: HTC) is a leader in implementing the next generation of connected services for the automobile. Centered on a core platform of safety and security offerings, the company develops and manages vehicle- and driver-centric solutions to enhance the driving and ownership experience. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Hughes Telematics offers a portfolio of consumer, manufacturer, fleet and dealer services provided through two-way connectivity to the vehicle. Networkfleet, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hughes Telematics located in San Diego, Ca., offers remote vehicle diagnostics, an integrated GPS tracking and emissions monitoring system for wireless fleet vehicle management. Additional information about Hughes Telematics can be found at www.Hughestelematics.com.

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2009 FORTUNE 500® company. For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com.
WebWireID108181"

New 802.11p/DSRC mini/PCI module DCMA-86P2 from Unex

Unex announce their first WiFi mini PCI module to comply with IEEE 802.11p/DSRC standard for V2V, V2R communication applications.

According to the data sheet of DCMA-86P2, it can work with 40, 20, 10 and 5MHz bandwith and support up to 24dBm average power. Supported security schemes include
•64-bit, 128-bit and 152-bit WEP encryption
•802.1x authentication
•AES-CCM & TKIP encryption
•CCX3.0

The module could work with MADWiFi Linux as well as Windows.

I would be intereting to see how the IEEE 1609 protocol stack is supported by this WiFi module. But so far I have no information on hand about this :-(

For more information and the data sheet of DCMA-86P2, please see:
http://www.unex.com.tw/product/dcma-86p2

Third C2C-CC forum at Volkswagen

3-4, Nov. 2009, the third C2C-CC forum of this year was held in Wolfsburg, the headquarter of VW.

From the program , it can be seen that the focus of C2C-CC's work is current no the standardzation and the SI-TD project is gainning high public awareness. Technical researches are seen in the areas of overall system archtecture involving in multi-system interoperation and scalable VANET through transmit power control.

Source: Car-2-Car Communication Consortium.

An Interesting Report on Automotive Telematics Industry

The report "Analyzing Automotive Telematics" from Aruvians Research and Markets has been added to their offer list.

Even I have no access to this commercial report, but from the news release it looks this is a quite comprehensive survey on the technologies, the market perspectives, as well as the roles of car manufacturers. There are the key topics covered in the report according to the news release:

"Executive Summary

Introduction to the Industry

* Looking at the Automobile Industry
* Major Technologies in the Automobile Industry

Introduction to Telematics

* Utilization of Telematics
* Telematics Market Segments
* Critics' View on Telematics
* Deployment Expectations from Automotive Telematics

The Impact of Telematics on the Automobile Industry

The Global Telematics Industry

* Industry Overview
* Growth Drivers
* Market Statistics
* Analyzing Market Trends

Analyzing the Failure of the Subscription-based Telematics Model

* Rise & Fall of the Model
* Beyond Subscription Services
* Vehicle Relationship Management
* Customer Relationship Management
* Brand Building
* Value of Telematics
* Conclusion

Looking at the European Telematics Market

* Industry Segments
* In-Car Telematics Terminals Market
* Major Telematics Service Providers
* Future Outlook

Looking at the US Telematics Market

Looking at the Asian Telematics Market

Applications of Automotive Telematics

* Emergency Applications & Security Booster
* Applications in Communication Technologies
* Applications in Entertainment
* Applications in Navigating Traffic
* Applications in Vehicle Telemetry
* Miscellaneous Applications

Analyzing the Performance of Telematics Systems

Trends in Technology

Major Car Manufacturers Active in the Industry

* BMW
* Daimler Chrysler
* Fiat
* Ford
* General Motors
* Honda
* Jaguar
* Mazda
* Mercedes Benz
* Nissan Motors

Judgmental Analysis on Automotive Telematics

* Viability of Industry Growth Projections
* Looking at the Compatibility of Terrestrial Cellular Systems & Satellites
* The Telematics Revolution

Future Perspective of the Industry

* Forecast of the Global Telematics Market
* Forecast of the Automotive Telematics Market"


Link to the report:
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/d3367e/analyzing_automoti

High Tech Goggles from Ford Helping Driving Safety

Ford researchers at the company's Human Machine Interface Verification laboratory - or "Distraction Lab" - use state-of-the-art occlusion goggles to help reduce driver distraction.

The original Article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS37904+20-Oct-2009+PRN20091020

Honda's New Electronik Powered Bicycle

At the 41st Motor Show in Tokyo, Honda will show the green two-wheel lineup includes the much-anticipated EV-Cub electric motorcycle. the EVE-neo electric scooter and the PCX global scooter—which boasts of being the first two-wheeler to employ an “idling stop system.”

The EV-Cub is fitted with the company’s “car2car” and “car2driver” communication system that’s called HELLO! (Honda ELectric mobility LOop) as well as a LOOP hand-held, portable communication tool.

...

Read the original news release.

Renesas Technology Announced the World's First Commercial ITS Verification Test inChangchun City, China

The Japanese automotive semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Technology announced the world first commercial ITS verification test using WAVE technology in ChangChun City, China.

The verification consists of three buses, eight bus stops and an intersection in equipped with WAVE terminals, developed by Renesas. The WAVE system is used for the information exchange between buses and stops for the applications of bus arrival time prediction, video stream transmission between intersection and buses, as well as onboard surveillance.

For more information, please read the news release from Renesas. (PDF)

ITRI WAVE/DSRC Communication Unit (IWCU) Platform in Taiwan

Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan released the first IWCU (ITRI WAVE/DSRC Communication Unit) in Taiwan. The IWCU serial products are meant to provide V2V V2R communciatio enabling ITS applications ranging from Safety to Infortainment, as reported in :

http://www.mem.com.tw/article_content.asp?sn=0909250006

GM's V2V Vision on EXPO 2010 and OnStar Service Launched in Shanghai

By launching the interactive website "www.gmexpo2010.com", GM kicked off its "Drive to 2030" campaign on Expo 2010, where GM will also present its vision on the V2V communication technologies.

News link:
http://media.gm.com/content/media/cn/en/news/news_detail.brand_gm.html/content/Pages/news/cn/en/2009/090924_GM_EXPO

OnStar services from GM and SAIC are announced to be launched in Shanghai, China, on Dec. 6, 2009.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS82214+29-Oct-2009+PRN20091029

Another kick on 5.9GHz DSRC Technology in the U.S.

according to the attendees at the ITS America annual conference at National Harbor Maryland, Obama administration officials are very interested in road pricing and other ITS technologies. Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) / road used charges are the major topics being discussed. Candidate technologies for such ITS programms include RFID, 5.9GHz DSRC, passive techonolgies, tec.

See the original article:
US officials very interested in VMT/road use charges - ITSA people

and the statement from Turnock, the CTO of Mark IV:
http://www.tollroadsnews.com/sites/default/files/Turnock.pdf

The U.S. GPS may have difficulty from 2010 on

"It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected." stated in a report released on April 7, 2009, by US Government Accountability Office (GAO). According to GAO's report the reason is the failure of the US Air Force to successfully complete the GPS IIF satellite program that is three years behind schedule now. It's likely to have old satellites starting to fail and service quality of GPS degrading in 2010.

Well, it sounds like a tragedy to the current GPS navigator users and all business using GPS based location information. But, on the other hand, it's also a positive news for other global positioning systems, like the European Galileo and the Chinese Compass projects, to come into the play.

An AMULETT for Pedestrian Safety with C2X Communication

The research project AMULETT funded by Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs focuses on the personal safety of pedestrian using C2X communication. That is realized through the cooperative sensor system between the car and the transponder carried by the pedestrian.

This three year research project was led by BMW Research and Technology in together with Continental Safety Engineering International GmBH, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, TUM and ZENTEC GmbH. On 6th of May 2009, AMULETT will presentes the results to the public.

Source: http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/04/22/bmw-car-2-x-communication-improves-pedestrian-safety/

Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Platform Demostrated by European CVIS Project

11th Dec. 2008, Berlin, a large amount of participants have witnessed the live demonstration of the universal Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication platform developed by the European Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Systems (CVIS) project. The demonstration was performed at the test site of German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin-Adlershof.

Two cars communicating with each other and with the road infrastructure have been demonstrated using a mobile router with multiple communication interfaces and innovative positioning techniques. The demonstration showed a seamless connection was maintained the communication interface switching between 3G/UMTS cellular network to WLAN, as well as a smooth handover between infrared and 3G cellular systems. Besides, the denonstration covered also the enhanced positing, real-time maps and location referencing, with precesion higher than one meter.

*Pictures from CVIS project

Orignal news release

Photo courtesy to CVIS Project

The Vehicle Infrastrcture Integration (VII) Program Adopted A New Name: IntelliDrive(SM )

The well know initiative of Research Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) , Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) program, adopted a new name and logo for attracting growing interest and excitement across the global transportation research community.

The newly adopted name, according to the announcement from RITA on Jan. 9, 2009, is IntelliDrive^SM. And the new logo can be found at: http://www.its.dot.gov/intellidrive/index.htm. According to the announcement, "Though its name has changed, the IntelliDrive^SM program's focus remains: to develop a networked environment supporting very high speed transactions among vehicles (V2V), and between vehicles and infrastructure components (V2I) or hand held devices (V2D) to enable numerous safety and mobility applications."

The original version of this announcement
IntelliDriveSM - Q&A

ITS Research at Tongji University, China

Thanks to Google web alert, I got a chance to learn the research performed at Broadband Wireless Communication and Multimedia Laboratory, Tongji University, China. There are some very impressive demonstrations showing their researches on Dedicated Short Range Communication system, Pedestrian and Vehicle Detection based on Video and Autonomous Driving Vehicle.

For the for information and the demonstration videos clips can be found at:
http://wm.tongji.edu.cn/research_areas.aspx

Have fun! :-)

Wireless Wolfsburg and Auto@web on CeBIT 09

Hannover, 6 Mar., 2009. Volkswagen showcased the projects "Autp@web" and wireless Wolfsburg on CeBIT 2009.

A Tiguan provided wireless internet access was shown to be able to provide the driver with up-to-date information about the environment and surroundings, e.g., the city's event calender, with a litst of local attractions and veneus. This vehicle was build by Volkswagen Group Research within the project "auto@web" and the wireless infrastructure in the city Wolfsburg, one of the biggest connected WiFi city-wide networks in Germany, was deploimented by the project Wireless Wolfsburg.

Related source:
Volkswagen to showcase the "auto@web" project at CeBIT
Wolfsburg, Germany and Volkswagen launch Wi-Fi test bed
Volkswagen’s Internet car talks to citywide Wi-Fi network
The City of Wolfsburg, Germany and Volkswagen Launch 'Wireless Wolfsburg' Using Tropos Networks.
"Wireless Wolfsburg" – Forschungsprojekt auf der Internationalen Zuliefererbörse (IZB) vorgestellt

Car-2-Car Communication System from University of Sourth Australia

Sydney, 13 Feb. 2009 -- A active safety system using Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology has been developed by a team from University of South Australia. The system use DSRC combining GPS for car communication aiming at safety applications like danger warning. The field trails of this system developed by Cohda Wireless and University of SA have been conducted in the US and Europe, and a large-scale trial is planned for Adelaide, according to the news.

News sources:
- Talking cars alert to danger and may avert crashes at www.news.com.au
- Soon, cars will talk to each other to avert accidents at sindhtoday
- University Of South Australia Says Inter-Car Communication Could Be A Reality By 2012 at www.themotorreport.com.au
- Getting cars talking to reduce accidents at www.australianit.news.com.au
- Cars to become wireless nodes with DSRC radio tech at www.geek.com
- The Next Node on the Net: Your Car! at www.readwriteweb.com

Electronic Nervous System for the Modern Vehicle

Driver assistance system using cameras and sensors is about to have dramatic effect on the automobile. The article by Christoph Hammerschmidt from EETimes Europe provided a glance on the state of the art on CMOS image sensors and DSP technologies applied in driver assistance systems. As an outlook, the article also revealed that driver assistance systems are evolving to a kind of electronic nervous system for the modern car, which is able to perform lane maintaining, traffic sign recognition, pedestrian recognition and even virtual situation imaging using car-to-car communication.

The article is available at: The thinking car sees a clear road ahead @ EETimes Dec. 2008

"Active Safety Car" Project in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany

09, Jan. 2009 -- A consortium of six companies led by Delphi Deutschland has launched the research project, namely Active Safety Car, working towards the automotive-based system that utilizes on-board cameras and sensors, as well as car-to-car communication to improve the traffic safety. The project is partly founded by the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state government.

The aim of the project is to develop a system that uses cameras, radars and sensors not only to recognize, but also share and exchange the information with other vehicles about hazards. Therefore, the focuses of research will be real-time image processing, pattern recognition, on-board real-time information processing, and car-to-car communication.

* Figure from allesueberautotechnik.de

* Figure from allesueberautotechnik.de

The consortium consists of Delphi Deutschland, Wuppertal University, Ceteq GmbH & Co KG,
Riedel Communications, and Volkswagen AG. The research tasks cover the following ares:
* Pedestrian safety through pedestrian detection and warning
* Vehicle detection and warning,
* Accident prediction and warning of critical situations,
* Prototype implementation
* Camera based pedestrian and vehicle recognition
* Car-to-Car or Car-to-Infrastructure communication

Source and figure courtesy:
allesueberautotechnik: Active Safety Car
EEtimes: Cars share cameras, radar sensors
www.elektroniknet.de: Projekt »Active Safety Car« gestartet

Intelligent In-Vehicle Road Management Boosts Hybrid-Car Efficiency

Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is believed to be effective in improving transportation safety and efficiency. For a driver, the most concerned benefits are time saving and fuel efficiency. An article from Peter Fairley, IEEE Spectrum Online, reports the research by Yaoyu Li, an mechatronics expert in University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, which has developed control algorithms that use route and traffic data to allow hybrid vehicles to plan how and when to use stored battery power so as to burn as little gasoline as possible.


PHOTO: David Lewis/iStockphoto (source IEEE Spectrum on-line)

"The idea has merit, according to Tom Robinson, senior manager, control and electronics, at automotive-systems supplier Ricardo, in Shoreham-by-Sea, England. “If you know what’s forthcoming, you can inform vehicle systems to operate more effectively,” says Robinson, whose company has worked on similar algorithms for conventional hybrids. "

The foreseeable effective ITS would consist not only the infrastructure and solutions providing the real-time information from environments, but also mechanisms that use such information and turn the information into real profits for users. Li's research exactly addressed and revealed the potential of the latter.

Article source and photo courtesy: Software Looks at the Road Ahead to Boost Hybrid-Car Efficiency, by Peter Fairley First Published February 2009

Demonstration of Inter-vehicle Communication with Dedicated Moniter in Japan

Japan, 4th Feb, 2009 -- In the field test of an inter-vehicle communication system, which was conduced by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism in late January 2009, Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) Ltd and Mitsubishi Motors Corp employed a on-board system with dedicated monitor for warning the driver about the approaching risks. Whereas, other carmakers use the navigation screen to alert the driver in their systems, e.g., Honda Motor Co Ltd, Mazda Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd.
The dedicated monitor overpermes the navigation screen due to the fact that drivers can check the dedicated monitor with less eye movenment.

As illustrated in the following pictures, the dedicated monitor provide warnings by changing the color, indicating the kind and the direttion of dangers with large icons, which are all easy to identifiy for drivers.

"A dedicated monitor is installed on the car navigation monitor. When no vehicle is approaching, the color of the screen is blue. The driver can see the blue color with little eye movement, without looking at the car navigation screen."

"The color of the dedicated monitor turns yellow when there is a vehicle approaching. And the monitor displays an icon corresponding to the type of the approaching vehicle and the possible accident type."

"Mitsubishi's test vehicle. A dedicated monitor is installed on the car navigation system."

"Icons are displayed on the monitor when there is a high risk of collision. The icons in the photo are indicating that a bicycle is moving in the opposite lane when the car is making a right turn at an intersection."

"There is a vehicle approaching in the opposite lane at a right turn."

"The dedicated monitor shows a direction (such as "E" and "W") when there is no vehicle with equipment for inter-vehicle communications in the vicinity."

"Upon the detection of a vehicle with the equipment, the monitor displays the letters "IVC." As long as there is no risk of collision, the monitor continues displaying the letters."

Source and photo courtesy techon.nikkeibp.co.jp

AutoNet -- "From academic literature to the mainstream press"

The recent media attention to researches on vehicle-to-vehicle communication and autonomous traffic-information system triggered an interesting discussion on the evolution of "Autonet" technology from researchers at UC Irvine’s Institute of Transportation Studies:


"Autonet: the time is now"

Source and photo courtesy : Transportation Project Attracts Media Interest

Test Center for "Connected Vehicle" Technology in Detroit

Detroit - Jan. 26, 2009. -- The vehicle communication technology is there, and now requires to be implemented and tested and put into production.

The Michigan International Speedway offered its track, which is know for NASCAR events, to the "Connacted Vehicles"initiative as a neutral testing ground for active safety applications using vehicular communication technology. It is said by MDOT's Krueger that the U.S. Department of Transportation pledged $100 million to this effort for a five-year period starting from 2005.

Source: The Detroit News

Fully Integrated 5.8GHz Transmitter from RFMD(R) to Comply with China's Electronic Toll Collection Standard

Products targeting at Chinese Electronic Toll Collection market emerge... ...

Greensboro, N.C., Jan 20, 2009. RFMD(R) released industry's first fully integrated 5.8GHz transmitter to comply with China's electronic toll collection standard: "GB/T 20851.1-2007: Electronic Toll Collection - Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) PartI: Physical Layer".

The transmitter from RFMD(R), ML5830, uses Amplitude Shift Key (ASK) and Frequency Shift Key (FSK) modulation schemes and operating on 5.8GHz ISM band for ETC applications including On Board Unit (OBU) and Road Side Unit (RSU). The FSK mode provides selectable data rates of 1 and 2 Mb/s.

Alastair Upton, general manager of RFMD's Broadband and Consumer Business Unit, said, "As the industry's first fully integrated 5.8GHz transmitter to comply with China's ETC standard, the ML5830 significantly accelerates time-to-market for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) while allowing RFMD(R) to participate in a growing market segment for wireless data. Also, with the implementation of our proprietary FastWave(TM) microcontroller technology, the ML5830 delivers incremental benefits to designers and OEMs in time savings and simplified design."

The ML5830 is priced at $5.00 each in quantities of 10,000 units and is packaged in a 6 x 6 x 1 mm, 40-pin QFN package. Samples and pre-production quantities are available immediately, and volume production is expected to commence in the June 2009 quarter.

The original article is located at:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=95468&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1246252

Traffic Information Center in Bangkok

The intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Thailand Association and National Electronic and Computer Technology Center (Nectec) is going to implement a pilot project, namely the Traffic Information Center. The Traffic Information Center is to offer travelers real-time traffic information so they can choose the best routes for city journeys. The center pools, analyzes and sells the traffic-related information supplied by partner organizations, including Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT), Don Mueang Tollway, the Traffic Police, and the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP).

The processed real-time information will be disseminated by a group of organizations acting as traffic information distributors.

"For example, Taxi radio stations can be one traffic information distributor. Instead of collecting data and developing their own traffic-information systems, taxi radio stations can partner with ITS Thailand to distribute information to their networks of taxi drivers," Passakon said.

Mobile phone operators are also expected to become partners of the new centre, to provide traffic information via cellphones, and newly-established companies providing paid services to drivers with in-car navigation systems are also expected to join the new system.

as stated in the original report: Real-time traffic information to be pooled, analysed and sold

Dash Selects NAVTEQ Traffic (TM) for Dash's Connected Navigation Service

Dash Navigation selected NAVTEQ Traffic(TM) to power the real time traffic application available to current customers of its connected navigator device, the Dash Express(TM).

"Dash Express customers will be able to access NAVTEQ's live traffic data on their devices and receive continuously updated real-time traffic information in more than 75 cities across the U.S., including visual notification of congestion that allows drivers to see potential traffic delays and avoid traffic problems. NAVTEQ Traffic(TM) offers a comprehensive array of proprietary data sources, including probe, sensor, historical, and combined incident and flow information. NAVTEQ Traffic is the recognized leader in real-time traffic, delivering comprehensive, up-to-the minute accurate information to millions of consumers in North America."

Dash Navigation, who introduced the world's first Internet-connected personal navigation device last year, decided in Nov. 2008 to shift its focus from delivering connected navigation devices directly to consumers to licensing its application and service to run on platforms such as onboard navigation systems, smartphones, PDA, and other consumer electronics.

The original release is available at:
http://www.navteq.com/webapps/NewsUserServlet?action=NewsDetail&newsId=690&lang=en&englishonly=false

21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles

The 21st International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) is scheduled on June 15-18, 2009, in Stuttgart, Germany.
http://www.esv2009.com/

WLAN-based RFID and Vehicular Communication Solutions from ARADA System

Arada's solution shows that the hardware solutions for vehicular communication have been very well developed and are flexible enough for both safety critical and intertainment applications.

SUNNYVALE, CA - Jan. 7, 2009 - Arada System announced complete WLAN-based RFID solution featuring Atheros ROCm® Technology.

The Loc-Air complete hardware and software solution from Arada Systems is the world's first RFID 802.11a/b/g solution, which leverages Atheros' ROCm technology for mobile WLAN and delivers the breakthrough low-power. It can deliver up to 10 years of operation on a standard double AA battery, stated by Arada. The design features Atheros' 802.11a/b/g WLAN technology with a tuning range of 2.3-2.7GHz and 4.9-5.95GHz, as well as Atheros' single-chip GPS technology, an accelerometer, and a temperature sensor that can be customized to meet the demands of various market segments.

"Arada Systems' Loc-Air technology platform is enabling a new class of applications that require extraordinarily low power consumption and enable a host of new applications and markets that extend beyond more traditional WLAN applications such as routers and laptops," said Praveen Singh, president and CEO of Arada Systems. "We are pleased to be the first to offer an RFID solution that delivers the benefits of the full spectrum of both the 2.4 and 5GHz wireless bands. With Atheros' market-proven, cost-effective mobile WLAN solution behind us, I am confident that we will deliver a highly reliable technology to satisfy even the most demanding industrial requirements for high-performance RFID." "Arada's entry into the RFID market with its innovative wireless-enabled Loc-Air technology should expand the adoption of WLAN-based locationing applications in a wide array of markets including healthcare, transportation and security," said Amir Faintuch, vice president and general manager of the mobile business unit for Atheros. "We are pleased that Atheros' ROCm technologies for WLAN and GPS will support Arada's RFID platform with unmatched wireless performance and versatility, with a cost structure that meets the requirements of the emerging, low-power, Wi-Fi sensor and location markets."

To be noticed, by adding expanded frequency support, Arada's LocAir system enables 2.3-2.7GHz, 4.9-5.95GHz, channelization from 20Mhz, 10MHz and 5MHz, which covers the Wi-Fi®, WiMAX, Public Safety, Automotive (802.11p) and all proprietary bands all over the world.

The white paper from Arada on High Bandwidth Application over Wi-Fi Connection with IEEE 802.11p, and IEEE P1609 (WAVE) Protocols (pdf) reveals Arada's solutin on solving the chanllenges in physical layer, and MAC layer with special focuses on channel utilization efficiency and synchronization between multiple wireless nodes. More specifically, the strengths of Arada's solution include:

• Wi-Fi Radio tuning for FCC Class C Spectral mask
• Consistent channel switching time of less than 3msec
• Efficient time synchronization between nodes
• Low propagation delay from transmit application to receive application
• Less than 2% loss in broadcast messages used for safety
• Efficient channel utilization, with high TCP/UDP data throughput used in infotainment applications.

"About Arada Systems

Arada Systems is a leader in advanced software solutions based on Atheros' world-class Wi-Fi chipsets. Arada Systems offers a wide array of products, services, testing solutions licensing solutions. Arada Systems provides solutions to customers that are developing leading-edge applications of Wi-Fi in the enterprise, outdoor, automotive, industrial and consumer electronics market segments. Consisting of a versatile team of leading wireless experts from Atheros Communications as well as other Wi-Fi companies, Arada Systems has the expertise to solve complex issues regarding the use of WLAN technology in a variety of applications. Arada Systems is headquartered in Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, CA with development centers in India's Silicon Valley in Bangalore. For more information, please visit: http://www.aradasystems.com."

Orignial release: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Arada-Systems-935209.html

Potential of Electronic Toll Collection Market in China

It is undoubted that there will be a huge market potential in China considering the growing vehicle population. According to Mr. Wang, from ISO Chinese secretary office, China started the investigation on the ETC technologies and deployed experimental spots at Beijing and Guangdong Province. However, due to the lack of coordination there is a requirement on a national wide standard for the Chinese ETC market. It is also addressed by Mr. Wang that the 5.8GHz European DSRC standard has been proposed as the basis of the national ETC standard since 1998. Currently, China is working on evolution from passive ETC towards active ETC system. [1]

[1]: Xiaojing Wang, Yi Guo, Strategy of Chinese ETC Standardization. 2009

OKI's World's First DSRC Inter-Vehicle Communication Attachment to Mobile Phone for Pedestrain Safety

TOKYO, Jan. 8, 2009 OKI announced the development of the world's first Dedicate Short Range Communication (DSRC) inter-vehicle communication attachment for mobile phones to connect the pedestrian and vehicles for road safety.


* Picture from OKI

The so named SPAN (Safety Personal Area Network) System utilizing the DSRC inter-vehicle communication with support of cellular system is aiming at improving road safety for the vulnerable road users, e.g. pedestrian and bicycle riders.

* Picture from OKI

* Picture from OKI

Althrough it is the penetration rate of DSRC equippment on market for both automotive users and cellular phone users that determines the performance of the SPAN system, it is a very promissing technology by exploring the way to combine communication sysetm and transportation system, as well as reveal the potential of wireless communication in inter-connecting machines instead of only people.

The original press from OKI can be found at:
http://www.oki.com/en/press/2009/01/z08113e.html

Vision on Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications from Delphi

An article from Mike Trudel, expresses the vision on Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication technologies from Delphi:

"Using a combination of global positioning navigation devices, short-distance radio communication and input from existing in-vehicle sensors, which is also referred to as Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), cars equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V) can tell each other where they are and calculate whether danger threatens. ..."