Communications demands to soar
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by Toby Clark Vehicle manufacturers are going to find it increasingly difficult to keep up with customers demands for onboard information technology and communications, according to speakers at a conference last week.
The Land Vehicle Navigation Group of the Motor Industry Research Association got together with the Royal Institute of Navigation to dis
cuss "Vehicle Communication Technologies"—and it was apparent that these technologies are going to become much more sophisticated in a very short time.
Colin Beatty of consulting firm CBI gave an overview of the links between communication and navigation systems: "Communications, location and mapping are finally coming together," he said, describing enhanced GPS systems that can navigate to an accuracy of less than a metre.
With appropriate display systems it will soon be possible to find your way to exactly where you want to go; even to a room within a building. "I don't need to know where the centre of a building is—I need to know where the entrance is," said Beatty.
This ability will lead to a huge growth in location-based services (IBS) to tell you where the nearest cashpoint, fuel station or restaurant is—and whether there is a free table. But it is not clear if these services will be provided by vehicle manufacturers, mobile phone service providers or brand-new firms.
According to Beatty, the long development cycles of vehicles—in comparison with computers, phones and other electronic devices—will be a problem. "What you build into the vehicle today will be obsolete by the time the vehicle comes to market." But these features are certain to become more important: "Are vehicle manufacturers prepared to give up being the supplier of this value-added feature?" he asks.
Another speaker, Terry Beadman of MIRA, described the often lengthy approvals process required for vehicle components, including almost every electronic device.
Professor Green of Warwick University described a couple of new technologies that would transform electronic communications within vehicles using optical and microwave (radio frequency) antennae.
These would be a cheap and easy way for vehicles to communicate with portable electronics (such as mobile phones or computers) or with external sites, from local traffic information services and toll stations to the operator's depot.