The fully networked car

The number of cars continues to rise around the globe. In 2006 alone, some 46 million passenger vehicles were produced worldwide, according to OICA (Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles), which comprises national associations of manufacturers. These cars need to share roads and resources efficiently. The environment needs to be protected, traffic flows controlled and people kept safe. And increasingly, drivers expect to keep in touch with the outside world when travelling.

Part of the answer to these issues will come from advances in information and communication technologies (ICT). To examine how cars and ICT are converging, a workshop was held in March by World Standards Cooperation — which brings together ITU, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Associated with The Fully Networked Car workshop was an exhibition on 6–10 March ITU/J. Burgess

Workshop at the motor show

The Fully Networked Car workshop was held on 7–9 March at a world-renowned venue: the Geneva International Motor Show. As well as attracting some 200 participants, the workshop featured speakers from major names in ICT and the car industry, including BMW, Ford, France Telecom, Freescale Semiconductor, Hitachi, Intel, Motorola, Nissan, On-Star, Orange, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Q-Free, T-Systems, Telecom Italia, Telecordia, Toyota, and Vodafone. The event was organized with the support of Cisco, Head Acoustics, SVOX and Ygomi.

The workshop’s aim was to examine the technical and engineering challenges for the networked vehicle, and what business models could best link the automotive and ICT sectors. A central theme was how to ensure that appropriate standards are adopted to deal with the complexity of electronic components and communication systems in cars.

To address these issues, it is essential to have collaboration between the car industry and the ICT industry, said Malcolm Johnson, the Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), in a welcoming speech to participants. (See also the Editorial.) Jack Sheldon, Standardization Strategy Manager at the IEC, also noted how the trend towards technological convergence “requires that IEC, ISO and ITU take into account each others’ work and that we cooperate…so that manufacturers can use our standards to deliver a final product to customers that functions as expected”.

In his opening remarks to the workshop, Alan Bryden, Secretary-General of ISO, stated that “an automobile is an excellent example of how technologies converge”. Cars produced nowadays are likely to contain dozens of microchips.

Intelligent cars

Pierre Malaterre, Vehicle System Electronic Manager at PSA Peugeot Citroën, described how, in addition to a hundred or so electric motors, there can be up to 50 electronic control units (ECU) in every car. These control such functions as anti-locking brakes, stabilizing functions, cruise control, and automatic transmission. “Eighty per cent of innovation in the auto industry is electronic,” he said, and these components account for 10–30 per cent of the cost of a car.

Mr Malaterre pointed out that these ECU are usually coordinated, forming an electronic network that keeps the vehicle running smoothly. Now, the task is to make the car even more “intelligent” by improving its exchange of information with the outside world. The technology by which this is achieved is called telematics (see box).

Connected cars

In addition to ECU sensors, with telematics, cars can use wireless technology to communicate with their surroundings and with each other. This means, for instance, that toll fees can be paid automatically, and that a route map (including the location of nearby points of interest) can be displayed on the dashboard through a satellite navigation system. Traffic flows can also be improved. The example of Japan illustrates how such intelligent transport systems (ITS) have developed.

A Japanese example

Tadao Saito of the Toyota InfoTechnology Center ITU/P. Rosa

Tadao Saito, the Chief Technology Officer at the Toyota-InfoTechnology Center (and Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University), explained how, in the 1970s, Japan began gathering data on traffic through such devices as roadside sensors to detect passing cars. Through a nationwide network of control centres, the information was used in measures to improve safety and the flow of vehicles, such as in the programming of traffic signals. Thus, the infrastructure was in place on which to build Japan’s first ITS in 1995: a form of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) called the “Vehicle Information and Communication System” or VICS, which uses FM multicast broadcasting and roadside beacons.

Mr Saito told the workshop about an experiment begun in 2005 at a section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway that becomes particularly congested. Information sent to VICS-equipped cars resulted in “a 79-per-cent fall in the number of traffic accidents compared with the previous year,” according to Mr Saito, even though only about 10 per cent of cars had the system. By 2006, of the approximately 55 million cars in Japan, 15 million were equipped to receive real-time traffic information and 22 million had navigation systems, Mr Saito said. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is now being introduced, he added, and the goal is to reduce fatal accidents to below 5000 per year by 2012.

Advanced wireless communication systems are the key to advanced telematics systems. This was emphasized in a paper presented by Mitsuji Matsumoto (Waseda University, Tokyo), Yasuhisa Nakamura (NTT DoCoMo) and Kenichi Yanagi (Hakuhodo Inc.). In their words: “Japan foresees the rapid development and evolution of 3G and 3.5G mobile phone services, VICS, and car navigation systems. The industry, government and academia are all pressing hard to deploy networked car services that incorporate these developments.”

Views from Europe and the United States

This deployment of ITS is mirrored in many other countries too, as illustrated at the workshop by Fotis Karamitsos from the Directorate General for Energy and Transport at the European Commission. He outlined how an enabling environment is being created in Europe for the development of networked cars, as well as other means of transport. A consultation process on deploying ITS in the European Union would soon start with the main stakeholders, Mr Karamitsos added, and the Commission is “looking forward to getting valuable input from the telecommunication world”.

A view from the United States came from K. Venkatesh Prasad, who is Group and Technical Leader, Infotronics Technologies Research and Advanced Engineering, at Ford Motor Company. He said that people want their cars to provide both safety and environmental protection, and they expect their personal communication and entertainment devices to work seamlessly within a vehicle. Ford’s aim is to “make the desirable affordable,” Mr Prasad said. In 2007, the company is due to launch Ford Sync in some of its US models, described as “a voice-activated, in-car communications and entertainment system for mobile phones and digital music players”.

Connected drivers

Intel Corporation has been involved in creating embedded processors for the automotive industry since 1976, said Ton Steenman, Intel’s Vice President, Digital Enterprise Group, and General Manager of its Infrastructure Processor Division. The goal of Intel’s work in this field is “extending the richness of the home and office experience to the car,” Mr Steenman said. The task includes supplying cars with Internet connectivity, allowing drivers to access and download data in whatever form their devices will support.

The “mobile office” is becoming a reality, commented Steve Millstein, President and CEO of the ATX Group, at a workshop session dedicated to that topic. By using a “thin client” (a small, network computer connected to a server that processes data) and natural language voice technology, “all cars can surf the Internet,” he said. E-mail or online information would be as readily available as at a conventional desk. In future, each vehicle could have an Internet protocol (IP) address, and “web access will replace current navigating applications with more powerful applications,” Mr Millstein added. (ATX is a major provider of telematics services.)

Safer journeys

Among the services that can be provided through telematics is remote diagnosis of faults in a vehicle. The information can then be forwarded to the driver, manufacturer or a repair service. This is an important contribution to road safety. And while travelling, if a car can communicate with the road and other vehicles, a driver can be warned of approaching hazards. In addition, cars with telematics can alert rescue services following a crash. In the United States, for example, such emergency call systems are available to subscribers. The European Union plans to have a continent-wide service that covers cars of any make, wherever they are.

Europe’s eCall

A session of the workshop was devoted to Europe’s emergency call system for vehicles, or eCall, which is being developed for a target operational date of 2010. “The European Commission’s initiative of having a pan-European automatic crash notification system is a critical step in reducing overall traffic injuries and fatalities,” said Brian Droessler, Manager, Strategy and New Business Development, Continental Automotive Systems. “Nearly 2500 lives a year may be saved with such a system, the benefits to society are clear and public support is high,” he added. Nevertheless, deployment of eCall has not been as quick as planned.

Delays are being caused by political and economic factors, as well as technical ones. Not all countries in the European Union have yet signed the agreement that will support the establishment of eCall, and it is not clear who will pay for maintaining and using the service. “The whole goal of the system is safety, but this has implications such as costs and the long-term reliability of technologies,” explained Thomas Form, a professor of electronic vehicle systems at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. “The business case for the e-Call system is very complicated,” he added.

Mr Form also discussed the technical requirements for the system, while the problems of using mobile phones for the e-Call system were highlighted by Ulrich Dietz, a Senior Technology Manager for Vodafone Group R&D in Germany. “Would a handset survive an accident?” he asked, and what happens if your phone battery is flat? He said that, to ensure constant, reliable communication, an embedded device in each car is the best solution.

Mr Form and Mr Dietz both favoured in-band modem technology for eCall, as did Pierre Piver, Group Vice President, Automotive, at Wavecom. Mr Piver also stressed the need to optimize the integration of key technologies, as well to allow wireless software upgrades. Mr Droessler stated that technical developments for eCall should take an evolutionary view and find “solutions that are updateable and expandable”. This would help overcome the discrepancy in the typical life cycle of a car and the faster one for communication technologies. Interoperability is another essential for a pan-European system. To achieve this, Mr Droessler said, industry should do its part by following the recommendations of standards bodies.

Standardization and harmonization

ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU–R) and Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU–T) are undertaking work relating to telematics (see box). This includes how ITS can best fit with next-generation networks (NGN), and the importance of this study was emphasized by Jean-Yves Monfort, Deputy Director of Standards Steering at France Telecom and Chairman of ITU–T Study Group 12, and by Pierre-André Probst, Chairman of ITU–T Study Group 16.

The International Electrotechnical Commission also conducts work relevant to telematics. Since cars now contain very many electrical and electronic systems, “the IEC is today present everywhere in cars, from batteries, to headlamps, to GPS screens, to satellite radio, to CD players and loudspeakers,” said IEC’s Jack Sheldon. Much of the Commission’s work relating to telematics and ITS is carried out in its Technical Committee 100, which deals with audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment.

The International Organization for Standardization is very active in the field of ITS and telematics. The main focus of its work is in Technical Committee 204 (TC204), which was set up in 1992 to examine standardization for ITS. It has 12 working groups that deal with specific issues, such as electronic fee collection and traveller information systems. Its chairman is Michael Noblett, who moderated a session on standards at The Fully Networked Car workshop. (Mr Noblett is also Vice President, Global Automotive Initiatives, Connexis LLC.) ISO’s Technical Committee 22, which deals with road vehicles, also examines topics in ITS and telematics. Its Subcommittee 3 focuses especially on electronic equipment, and has produced many standards in this area.

Harmonizing spectrum

Underlying all telematics services is the use of radio-frequency spectrum. Colin Langtry, the Counsellor for ITU–R Study Group 8, told the workshop that “as a global industry and market, there is a need to better articulate the requirement for global harmonization of ITS radio services”. He said that the identification of spectrum for this purpose might be considered at a future World Radiocommunication Conference.

On a regional scale, harmonization of spectrum use across national borders is an important issue for the European Union. “Spectrum issues carry challenges, as the regulatory bodies of the 27 EU member States often follow different policies,” explained Uwe Daniel, CEO of Silicon Networks GmbH. He said that in order to reach a consensus, a Working Group on Communications was launched in 2006 by the eSafety Forum, and plans to deliver recommendations to the European Commission by the end of this year. (The European Commission established the eSafety Forum in 2003, as a platform for all stakeholders working to improve road safety.)

Bringing industries together

Most speakers at the workshop stressed the need for standardized solutions in order to achieve fully networked cars that can operate anywhere, across national borders and irrespective of the manufacturer. “All stakeholders agree that cooperative systems in road traffic will only be successful if the communication protocols, the system components and the architecture are harmonized and in many cases standardized,” said Mr Daniel. “Nevertheless different market players have different priorities,” he added, a point that was echoed by Stefan Dobler, Director of Multimedia Design Services and Products, Teleca Systems GmbH. At present, “there is still an understanding problem between the automotive and the communication industries,” Mr Dobler said.

Among the biggest challenges to standardization is the significant difference in life cycles between mobile and consumer devices, telecommunications, and cars. This point was emphasized by T. Russell Shields, Chairman of Ygomi LLC. “Since the vehicle’s lifespan is longer, we should keep most of the intelligence in the phone, or in land-based systems the phone links to, and have a simple interface to the vehicle,” he said. This would allow several generations of mobile equipment to be used without modifying the car in which they travel. “What we need to do is make your car a docking station for your mobile device,” Mr Shields said, which provides “plug-and-play” capability throughout the global market. The automotive and telecommunication industries “must work closely to come up with workable approaches,” he added. “Global cooperation on standards is vital.”

Meanwhile, there is a diversity of systems used by the automotive industry itself. “We don’t want to have a Ford car talking one language and a BMW car talking another,” said Reinhard Scholl, the Deputy Director of ITU’s TSB, who moderated a panel discussion on standards at the workshop. Another vital challenge for manufacturers was mentioned by Denis Griot, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Freescale Semiconductor. When people’s lives depend on networked safety systems in cars, the components of those systems must achieve a standard of “zero-defect reliability” he said, but “improved methodologies and system architectures” will help to ensure such levels of quality.

Architecture for interoperability

Efforts are already well under way to create an infrastructure for telematics that is integrated within an entire “architecture” of integrated systems. In Europe, for example, the Global System for Telematics (GST) project aims to create a standardized open architecture for the supply of end-to-end telematics services, explained Michel Fond (a consultant to the Telematics and Automotive Group, Orange S.A.) and Jaques Garcin, Orange’s Telematics and Automotive Director. The project involves 50 European partners: carmakers, mobile phone operators, service providers, component makers, insurance companies and roadside recovery services.

Stephen Hope, of France Telecom R&D UK Ltd, is also on the Board of Directors of innovITS, the United Kingdom’s “centre of excellence” for ITS. He said that a major focus in the work of innovITS is “developing a functional architecture that would accommodate a range of technologies to allow competition between solutions and thereby contribute to cost reduction and provide diverse services”. In Mr Hope’s view, car drivers and passengers in future will experience ubiquitous services and invisible delivery technology. They will be “even more connected to the environment, but less aware of this,” he said.

Measuring distraction

Meanwhile, though, there is much work to be done on ways to deliver information to car drivers reliably and safely, but without distracting their attention from the road. “How to measure distractions is crucial,” said Hironao Kawashima, Professor at the Centre for Open Systems Management, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, Tokyo, and Vice-Chairman of ISO’s Technical Committee for ITS (TC204). “Not enough research has been done into drivers’ reactions,” he commented, and standard definitions are not specific enough to particular applications.

At issue is the “human-machine interface” (HMI), or how people really use devices and data within their connected cars. This was discussed at a “Communications” workshop session moderated by Jean-Yves Monfort. It examined the challenges for audiovisual equipment in cars, as well as for the hands-free usage of controls and communication devices, including voice synthesis and voice recognition.

Mr Monfort also gave a presentation with Hans W. Gierlich, Head of the Telecom Division, HEAD Acoustics GmbH, describing the work of ITU’s “FITCAR” Focus Group (see box). They said that its goals include developing standards in such fields as audio quality and speech recognition, so that drivers can safely and clearly communicate with devices in their cars, and with the outside world.

Reducing the environmental impact

The effect of cars upon the outside world has been receiving increasing attention, not only because of concerns about air quality, but also as we become more aware of the threat of climate change. Telematics has a role to play in this area too.

Monitoring a car’s performance in such areas as fuel efficiency can reduce the amount of energy it consumes. In addition, emissions from cars’ exhausts can be significantly reduced. Stephen Hope described another way that telematics can reduce the environmental impact of traffic through helping to “integrate logistics and traffic management systems in support of efficient manufacturing and retail supply chains”. Better management means fewer trucks and/or shorter journeys.

This point was echoed by James Rosenstein, Senior Vice President, Marketing and External Affairs, Ygomi LLC. “If you have a more developed information system, you can control traffic better, and all that can lead to very significant reductions in pollutant emissions,” he said.

Overall, telematics should help provide “safe, efficient, secure and environmentally friendly mobility,” said Monica Sundström, Chairman of the ITS advisory organization ERTICO. She reminded the workshop that “the fully networked car is only one element of a larger system connecting travellers and goods”.

The final inch

However large a communication system, though, it is often the final link in the chain that presents the greatest challenge. This has become familiar in telecommunication circles as “the last mile.” For telematics, this changes to “the last-inch challenge,” said Mr Prasad of Ford. “The bridge has been built in the telecommunication world,” he explained, “but not yet between mobile devices and the car”.

There are challenges in the merging boundaries between the “brought-in” (such as iPods and mobile phones), the “beamed in” (wireless communications) and the “built-in” elements within each vehicle, Mr Prasad said. Nevertheless, he added, consumer experiences will become richer and their expectations for the fully networked car will grow.

James Rosenstein also stressed how “by 2010, we will see many new applications for networked cars”. Having become used to connectivity and receiving multiple services from mobile phones, people now expect to have the same in their cars, Mr Rosenstein said. “The car has become an Internet node.”

Road safety is no accident

UN Global Road Safety Week
(23–29 April 2007)

Improving safety on the roads is a fundamental aim of the fully networked car. Also in pursuit of this goal, the UN Regional Commissions and the World Health Organization (WHO) have jointly organized the first-ever United Nations Global Road Safety Week.

Under the slogan “road safety is no accident,” its particular target will be young road users, who tend to be most at risk. But people of all ages will also benefit from the week’s activities, which will include a large number of local, national and international events.

The main objectives are to raise awareness about the social impact of road traffic injuries and to promote preventative action. The problem is certainly significant. According to WHO figures, nearly 1.2 million people are killed on the world’s roads every year, and more than 40 per cent of deaths occur among those aged below 25.