Unicore Communications, Inc., is showcasing two new products at ION GNSS+, being held September 10-12 in Tampa, Florida.
The UM220-INS is a BeiDou/GPS+MEMS dual-system inertial navigation module for in-dash automotive navigation and high-end navigation. Besides dual-system (BeiDou+GPS) GNSS navigation, the UM220-INS features a built in six-axis MEMS and can output a GNSS+MEMS inertial positioning result, making it suitable for applications requiring high accuracy, high reliability, and high continuity positioning.
The second product is the UB280, a BeiDou/GPS dual-system dual-antenna high-precision heading board for precise RTK position and heading. According to Unicore, UB280 is based on Unicore’s mature BeiDou compatible multi-system GNSS system-on-chip (SoC), features low-power design and dual-antenna input, can offer millimeter-level carrier phase observation value and centimeter-level RTK positioning accuracy, and supports multi-path mitigation. Its advanced technology of instant and long-distance RTK is designed for high-precision positioning, navigation, and heading applications in static and dynamic environments.
Features of the UM220-INS include:
Built-in six-axis MEMS. UM220-INS has a built-in MEMS with a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-axis accelerometer. The solution fusing GNSS and inertial MEMS enables car-navigation devices to provide a continuous and stable position under complicated environments such as basement parking and tunnels, regardless of satellite visibility.
High-Sensitivity Design. With Unicore’s Ultra-Sense high-sensitivity design, UM220-INS can provide excellent acquisition and tracking sensitivity under weak signal conditions, maintaining the position continuity and reliability of the receiver.
High-Integrated Design. Different from traditional GPS navigation products, built-in MEMS devices support the odometer / speed pulse, the reversing signal input, and more integrated, simplified overall unit manufacturers’ design.
DGNSS and AGNSS Supprt. UM220-INS has extended support for differential GNSS and assisted GNSS positioning functions, and supports RTCM2.3/3.0.
Backward Compatibility with UM220. The UM220-III N module is backward-compatible with the UM220 in size and interface, which makes upgrades easy.
UB280 BDS/GPS dual-system dual-antenna high -precision heading board. Photo: Unicore
Features of the UB280 incude:
Design standard. This board is totally compatible with mainstream OEM boards in dimensions and electrical standards for the convenience of user’s further development. Apart from this, more hardware interfaces are available.
Rapid RTK Integer Ambiguity Resolution. With super strong RTK algorithms, it ensures more rapid initializing speed and can make a GNSS-RTK solution on multi-constellation, thus ensuring users take the lead in the interoperability era.
Web Interface. The UB280 supports an Ethernet interface, so users can configure the board through Ethernet, managing, upgrading, and restarting the device remotely.
Instant Heading Technology. With an innovative RTK algorithm, Unicore has developed the real-time dynamic heading technology on variable baseline length for a moving base station. High-quality carrier observation and perfect RTK algorithm can provide a 0.2° heading accuracy on a 1-meter baseline.
Graphical Interface. Based on the graphical Control and Display Tool (CDT), the state, SNR and elevating angle of the satellites of all the constellations could be displayed on the screen, which is convenient for application development.
Unicore Communications is located in Booth 118 in the ION GNSS+ exhibit hall.
The most interesting thing in mobile and location in 2014 is the connected vehicle. Back in the early 1990s, a bigger vision of smarter highways began to be explored. The technology was refined, and resulted in successful demos of cars talking to each other and to roadside infrastructure like traffic lights. If you lived in Southern California, you might remember seeing platoons of automated vehicles zipping along a closed section of Route 15.
Since those heady days, the timing and visioning for smart highways and vehicles were tempered by the massive cost of the infrastructure required. Now we are seeing the “connected vehicle” starting to roll out of the doors of dealerships, but with a different and more limited type of connectivity than we started to envision in the 1990s.
Reminiscent of the mission started decades ago, a new year-long “smart car” project and demo will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The objective of the smart car project is to determine whether wireless communication between vehicles can improve safety Three thousand cars, buses and trucks will utilize data recorders and a technology similar to Wi-Fi that can transmit information about accidents or hazardous traffic conditions.
Drivers participating in the demo will be warned of sudden changes in traffic patterns or potential collisions through data transmitted from similarly equipped cars and roadside devices. Eight major automakers will provide vehicles and engineering assistance to the study.
Currently, some new car models are equipped with active safety devices that can alert drivers if they are drifting out of a traffic lane or traveling too close to another car. But the smart car demo differs because will share safety information with other smart cars on the road.
The smart car system can give drivers visual or audio warnings about sudden traffic changes experienced by another connected vehicle. Several cameras installed in the connected vehicles will also capture data on how the drivers respond to accidents and sudden changes in traffic conditions.
Today’s connected vehicle is sometimes referred to as a smartphone on wheels, a limited vision of what can be. Now is the time to determine if the savings of fewer accidents or increased capacity on our roads will outweigh the cost of new infrastructure and added functionality in vehicles.
Hong Kong-based Maestro Wireless Solutions, a manufacturer of location receivers, and CSR plc, a global provider of silicon and software solutions for location-aware applications, announce the immediate availability of the A5100-A, a next-generation SiRFstarV GNSS positioning module that combines high-performance GPS and GLONASS receiver technology in a small 10 x 15 mm package.
The A5100-A is designed for a wide range of applications including wearable devices, cameras and automotive trackers.
The A5100-A is the first release within Maestro’s new line of GNSS receivers. It achieves high accuracy with quad-constellation support, up to 30 percent faster time-to-first-fix (TTFF), and up to 20 percent lower power consumption using CSR’s TricklePower and Push-to-Fix (PtF) modes. The module also accelerates customer time to market and reduces development risks by integrating a number of features, including TCXO, SAW filter, RTC, antenna-control mechanism, and flash memory for future-proof upgrades, as well as offering a drop-in replacement capability for Maestro’s previous SiRFstar4 generation modules. The castellated-edge form factor also enables simpler manufacturing and reduces assembly cost, the companies said.
Supporting all currently deployed GNSS, the A5100-A acquires and tracks all visible GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, and SBAS satellites. Concurrent GNSS performance enables the A5100-A to choose the best satellites from different constellations and deliver optimal location information. Immediate benefits are better coverage, enhanced stability, and accuracy in difficult environments, such as urban canyons, and stronger resilience to multipath and signal jamming. This ensures consumers maintain a position fix whether they’re in the middle of a busy city or in a remote rural location, the companies said.
The A5100-A offers a range of other features including:
Direct to Battery connectivity: Connects directly to a rechargeable 1.8V-3.6V Lithium battery enabling system cost reduction and increased power efficiency.
Low Power technology: Optimized for power consumption by incorporating CSR’s PtF technology. PtF rapidly establishes a valid position fix enabling the module to hibernate for longer periods of time, and adaptively changes power depending on the operating environment and motion conditions. Advanced algorithms and a powerful on-chip DSP processor maintain high accuracy (QoS) while achieving the lowest power level possible for the given environmental and motion conditions.
InstantFix Extended Ephemeris (EE): Accelerates TTFF for devices without internet connectivity such as cameras and wearable devices, by autonomously predicting EE for as long as three days and up to 31 days when connected to a network that supports SiRFInstantFix server generated extended ephemeris data (SGEE).
“Maestro Wireless has worked closely with CSR for many years to design and commercialize highly accurate and reliable location products,” said Anthony Murray, senior vice president, Business Group at CSR. “But to win in today’s highly competitive consumer electronics market performance isn’t enough. That’s why we’ve worked with Maestro Wireless to develop a solution that excels in a range of performance metrics but also offers the small form factor essential for today’s compact devices and is highly integrated to help them get to market fast.”
“The A5100-A is perfect for customers designing highly integrated products that need uncompromising performance but are pressured by the speed required to go-to market and lack of development resources,” said Olivier Bernard, EVP of Business Development at Maestro. “By combining low power consumption with high sensitivity, high jamming immunity and concurrent GNSS operation, and with its drop in upgrade path to the A2200-A, the A5100-A creates a fast and convenient route to the latest GNSS offering in the marketplace, to meet these needs quickly.”
The 3DM-GX4-45 by LORD MicroStrain is a miniature, industrial-grade GPS-aided inertial navigation system that uses high-performance MEMS sensor technology. It combines a triaxial accelerometer, triaxial gyro, triaxial magnetometer, temperature sensors, pressure altimeter, and dual on-board processors running a sophisticated Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to provide excellent position, velocity, and attitude estimates.
It offers a range of fully calibrated AHRS measurements, including acceleration, angular rate, magnetic field, deltaTheta and deltaVelocity vectors. GPS measurements include LLH position, ECEF position and velocity, NED velocity, UTC time, GPS time, and SVI. The receiver is a 50-channel u-blox 6, which receives GPS L1 C/A code, and the SBAS signals WAAS, EGNOS, and MSAS.
The 3DM-GX4-45 provides accurate navigation and orientation under dynamic conditions for applications such as GPS-aided navigation; unmanned vehicle navigation; camera stabilization; robotic control; and reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition.
With fall tradeshow season fast approaching and 2015 vehicles hitting the road, Scott McCormick, President of the Connected Vehicle Trade Association (CVTA), took the time to answer some questions for GPS World about one key conference, CTIA’s Super Mobility Week, and what to expect in the connected vehicle market for the second half of 2014. The CVTA is a nonprofit industry group dedicated to accelerating technologies in the consumer and commercial auto market. CVTA will be well represented at Super Mobility Week, with about a third of its membership comprised of companies involved in the wireless industry. However, McCormick won’t be in attendance in Las Vegas; that’s because he’s a member of the organizing committee and will be moderating sessions at ITS World Congress, being held that same week in Detroit.
Do you think that ITS World Congress will end up cannibalizing the connected vehicle crowd from Super Mobility Week?
Yes, I think it will a lot. Most of the connected vehicle companies don’t work solely in DSRC, they work in cellular and WiFi, too, so it really depends on where their business needs are. The company with the large multinational presence will certainly be at World Congress because that’s where the networking capability is, while CTIA will be most of the cellular providers. It’s about connecting with your channel partners, your supply base and your potential customers. It’s not really about seeing new technologies, but about engaging new customers.
What we are announcing is about doing something that will help benefit collaborative industries. We have our core industries, but there are now insurers, data mining companies, security companies, all these other companies that are not in the automotive space that are doing things related to it. A few years ago we had people in Silicon Valley begin working in the automotive space but they didn’t understand the user interface in the car, where you need to have control and return your attention to driving as quickly as possible. All the devices they knew were designed to focus your attention. It’s the same thing today: The insurers don’t know how to work with the automakers. Neither did the telecoms. They’re completely different business models, but they’re channel partners. This is not just about a company to hire, but where can we gain utility and expertise.
So your announcement will be about reaching into a second tier of companies that just a few years ago were not involved in the connected vehicle space?
That’s a perfect way to characterize these companies; they all have to deal with interoperability issues.
What will be the hottest topics at Super Mobility Week?
There will be three: privacy, data ownership, and security. Security is the only one that’s important, and it’s for simple reasons. The United States has no personal privacy data law and it never will. The issue is one that we’re not going to solve. Everybody wants to talk but nothing ever comes of it.
The same question with data ownership. Why would my privacy or data ownership be device-specific? It should be device-agnostic. Anytime you transfer data, there are two levels of ownership. Of the data in the connected vehicle, an infinitesimally small amount is related to location or driving behavior. Although we talk about privacy and data ownership, nobody’s going to define data ownership.
Security, however, is a huge issue, because once you clear a gateway into the system, it can be breached. I’m not concerned about terrorists, it’s more just teens with nothing to do who want to rock the system. I’m most concerned about the insufficiency of the code. There’s an average of 43 networks in a car, and while they’re not likely going to affect braking, that doesn’t mean if you tinker with things long enough you couldn’t figure it out and remotely control functions. That’s really sophisticated and of very low value to do it to one vehicle.
It’s more important to ask if the overall infrastructure is protected. Systems have to be designed to be secure, detectable, and reparable. It’s incumbent upon cellular companies to take that responsibility.
Will they accept that responsibility?
If they don’t, people won’t use it. Now we understand that when a car is purchased it’s based largely on the perception of quality of service, not just on the quality of the engine or the comfort of the ride … it’s about how long until my connection breaks off and why didn’t I know about that traffic jam or that this road was icy if another guy did in a different make and model car.
How do you think this year’s show will be different from last year’s show?
Last year a lot of industries were still coming off the recession and going back to core competencies. This year I expect to see a lot of innovative companies coming out with much more focused sort of innovation where in the past it was about trying to be everything to everybody. In particular, the connected life stuff is going to be interesting because those are the people that when you look at it you’ll say, this is something I haven’t seen before or wasn’t aware of and it’s new and consequential.
The automakers will be a part of a lot of those discussions. Do you think we’ll hear anything new?
There will be some talk about the aftermarket. The average person keeps cars for 11 years. Now if I just bought a new car and next year someone has something really cool, I can’t just go buy a new car. But if I could add it … now there’s another revenue stream for the OEMs.
What are some innovations you think we’ll see hitting the market in the next year?
The machine-to-machine market is going to have a lot. Also, I just read a report that a lab figured out how to do 1000-times the data transmission speed of the fastest fiber-optic system by running it across copper. We have certain sized pipelines today and a certain time to get data from here to there, and we’re exploring how we can best do that with what we have.
By all estimates the global connected car service market is expected to top $130 billion by 2019. What will fuel that growth the most? Safety and security? Infotainment? And is that growth sustainable?
By 2020 we’re looking at a $200 billion market … and that’s going to be because of security. The problem with the automotive industry is that they have a very difficult time communicating the value proposition, because they’re used to selling business-to-business. But in the cellular industry you don’t question paying several hundred dollars a month for your phone, because they communicate that well to consumers. So the question is really one of both developing the product and service and understanding the consumer.
CTIA has talked a lot about safe driving policy and distracted driving legislation. Where do you see this policy going in the next year?
I see the federal government moving at a glacial pace. They were 2 months late on the vehicle-to-vehicle report, they were supposed to work on the interstate commercial vehicle rule, and they’re struggling with a transportation authorization bill that’s not anywhere near where it should be. There are things that the federal government needs to be involved in and things they have no business being involved in, like setting standards. The automakers will do what the consumers want. Look what happened with backup cameras. Even before there was legislation requiring backup cameras because of kids being hit, the automakers decided to put it on certain models because the consumers wanted it.
What policies will come into play in the next year?
One is very critical. The American Jobs Act is pushing to allow unlicensed devices to use the 5.9 (GHz) spectrum (currently allocated to licensed Intelligent Transportation Systems), and we have conveyed what a bad idea that is. The FCC has tested it in lab conditions, not with hundreds of cars at an actual intersection. This is not like connecting a toaster and refrigerator, this is hundreds of people in the backseats of cars attempting to connect and disconnect (to WiFi). That’s the equivalent of a denial-of-service attack. Unless we deal with this soon, it’s going to be a real safety risk. The problem is once the spectrum gets reallocated, it’s going to be really hard to take it away.
Alps Electric has developed the UMSZ2 Series multi-GNSS module for automotive use, providing support for multiple satellite positioning systems with a single module. Samples will be made available starting in April.
The module can receive signals from multiple GNSS, allowing simultaneous reception of signals from multiple positioning systems with the single unit. It is a surface mount module with dimensions of 25.0 × 20.0 × 2.6 mm. Also equipped with an internal antenna status detection circuit, as required for GNSS signal reception, the module helps to reduce the customer’s workload in designing and installing such circuits.
Alps Electric harnessed RF circuit and software design technologies built up over the years to optimize the UMSZ2 Series’ circuitry and create a single-package multi GNSS module. The time taken to acquire a position fix after turning on the system was also shortened, realizing the industry’s fastest time to first fix.
Furthermore, the UMSZ2 Series can operate off a single 3.3V power supply despite simultaneously receiving signals from multiple GNSS. Eliminating the need for a multiple power supply contributes to greater freedom in system design.
A dead-reckoning function for updating position information inside tunnels or in other areas where a signal is unavailable will also be added as an option.
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has added the Qualcomm Gobi 9×30 platform with extended lifecycle support to Snapdragon Automotive Solutions, enabling advanced telematics and infotainment features for next-generation systems.
The announcement was made at Mobile World Congress, being held this week in Barcelona, Spain.
Based on Qualcomm Technologies’ fourth-generation LTE platform, the Gobi 9×30 supports LTE Advanced Category 6 with up to 300 Mbps downlink data rates, enabling broadband vehicle connectivity for enhanced navigation, Wi-Fi hotspot, infotainment content and telematics services.
Gobi 9×30 builds upon Qualcomm Technologies’ LTE modem technology for automotive, the Gobi 9×15, and promises to enable a superior next-generation GNSS engine and fast 3G and 4G LTE connections worldwide, while supporting broad multi-region coverage in a single SKU with the Qualcomm RF360 front-end solution. The Gobi 9×30 is based on the 20-nm technology node with support for global carrier aggregation deployments up to 40 MHz in both LTE FDD and TDD modes. The Gobi 9×30 features broad multi-mode capability with support for all other major cellular technologies, including LTE TDD networks in China.
In addition to 3G/LTE connectivity, the new platform is pre-integrated with QCA6574, a dual-stream 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset designed to simultaneously support in-car Wi-Fi hotspot functions and Bluetooth profiles. The QCA6574 also supports DSRC (dedicated short-range communications), a technology required to comply with future regulation recently announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to increase safety through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. The Gobi 9×30 and QCA6574 will also be pre-integrated with Qualcomm Technologies’ recently-announced automotive-grade Snapdragon 602A processor.
“The need for high-speed connectivity in the automobile is driving ever-increasing data rates as well as greater integration of features and technologies,” said Kanwalinder Singh, senior vice president of business development for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Adding Gobi 9×30 to our technology leading LTE lineup offers to our module, Tier-1 and automaker customers the flexibility of a global SKU with next-generation LTE features including data rates up to 300 Mbps and carrier aggregation. The Gobi 9×30 sets a new bar for features and integration: 20 nm technology node; support for both LTE FDD and TDD modes; built-in next-generation GNSS engine; pre-integration with Snapdragon 602A; and pre-integration with QCA 6574, supporting 802.11ac, BT 4.1, and DSRC.”
Three additional companies — Qualcomm, Red Bend and QuickPlay — have signed on to work with the connected car industry at the AT&T Drive Studio, a connected car center for innovation and research in Atlanta, Georgia.
“This is an exciting ecosystem and we are committed to leading the way to take the connected car to the next level for auto manufacturers and their drivers,” said Glenn Lurie, president, AT&T Emerging Enterprises and Partnerships, AT&T Mobility. “That’s the essence of the AT&T Drive Studio, to bring together the best players in the auto industry ecosystem to collaborate and create the future faster.”
The AT&T Drive Studio will now include support from the following companies:
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., intends to showcase its newly announced Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive Solutions for infotainment and telematics at the AT&T Drive Studio. Qualcomm Technologies plans to integrate these solutions with AT&T’s Drive portfolio, including AT&T’s global SIM, bifurcated billing, voice recognition, and the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network.
AT&T has selected Red Bend Software to be a solution provider to remotely manage automotive software in the new AT&T Drive Studio. Hosted in the AT&T cloud, the Red Bend Software Management Center is an OMA-DM standard-based platform designed for car manufacturers to manage in-vehicle software and applications over the air with reliability and efficiency. Red Bend’s comprehensive software management platform significantly reduces the time and cost for automotive OEMs to manage the lifecycle of all in-vehicle software, from head units to map content and ECUs.
AT&T has selected QuickPlay Media to develop an in-vehicle video service. The offering will be powered by QuickPlay’s OpenVideo platform and will deliver Live Linear TV and streaming video on demand services to automotive manufacturers collaborating in the AT&T Drive Studio. QuickPlay’s solution will enable AT&T to provide in-car “infotainment” by delivering secure streaming of hundreds of live linear TV channels and hours of premium VoD content. The solution includes a configurable, customizable client application, support for adaptive streaming, complete content protection with DRM solutions like Microsoft PlayReady, user entitlements, dynamic advertising, banner ad support, multi-language support and featured content.
Opened in January 2014, the AT&T Drive Studio is a dedicated facility for connected car innovation and research. Located in Atlanta, the more than 5,000-square foot AT&T Drive Studio features working garage bays, a speech lab, and a full showroom to exhibit the latest innovations. The AT&T Drive Studio integrates AT&T solutions across multiple companies and serves as a hub where AT&T can respond to needs of automotive manufacturers and the auto ecosystem at large.
u‑blox has introduced the CAM-M8Q GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/QZSS antenna module. The module integrates a u-blox M8 satellite receiver IC plus SAW filter, LNA, TCXO, RTC, passives and a pre-tuned GNSS chip antenna in an ultra-small 9.6 x 14.0 x 1.95 mm package. The new module requires only a power source for reliable and accurate satellite positioning anywhere in the world.
Combining low power consumption with high-sensitivity, high jamming immunity and concurrent GNSS operation (GPS/GLONASS, GPS/BeiDou, or GLONASS/BeiDou) the surface-mount CAM-M8Q provides a drop-in solution for satellite positioning in an ultra-small form factor, u-blox said.
“Our u-blox CAM-M8Q is perfect for customers designing highly compact products who want to speed up product development while freeing resources for core activities,” explains Thomas Nigg, vice president of product marketing at u-blox. “The CAM-M8Q is a pre-tuned, performance and cost optimized module providing satellite positioning on an extremely small footprint. It is literally an ‘instant’ positioning solution.”
The u-blox CAM-M8Q module is designed for a wide range of applications such as personal locators, handheld navigators, and wearable electronics as well as vehicle telematics systems used for emergency call, anti-theft, insurance and road pricing. Consistent omni-directional antenna performance helps ensure excellent performance regardless of module orientation.
In addition, the CAM-M8Q allows the internal chip antenna to be used as a backup antenna if the design incorporates an external antenna. This benefits companies where there is a risk that the primary external antenna may malfunction or suffer damage, for example in vehicle tracking systems where damage is possible to the external antenna.
The CAM-M8Q module uses the latest u-blox M8 GNSS receiver chip qualified according to AEC-Q100 and is manufactured in ISO/TS 16949 certified sites. Qualification tests are performed as stipulated in the ISO16750 standard: “Road vehicles – Environmental conditions and testing for electrical and electronic equipment.”
The CAM‑M8Q is form-factor compatible to predecessor modules UC530 and UC530M, allowing the upgrade of existing designs with minimal effort.
u-blox has introduced its next-generation semiconductor technology dedicated to advanced in-dash navigation, emergency call (including eCall, a European rapid response initiative, and ERA-GLONASS, Russia’s Government Accident Emergency Response System), usage-based insurance, road-pricing, and stolen-vehicle recovery systems.
The UBX-M8030-Kx-DR chip integrates 3D Automotive Dead Reckoning (3D ADR) technology, which enables it to calculate a vehicle’s position, speed, and elevation in areas of poor or no satellite visibility, a common scenario in high-density urban environments, stacked highways, or parking garages.
Here is a two-minute YouTube video demonstration.
“Drivers expect car navigation systems to be fast, accurate, and work everywhere, regardless of satellite visibility. As cities expand, construction of more tunnels, multi-level overpasses and park garages is increasing,” said Thomas Nigg, VP Product Marketing at u‑blox. “Our solution meets this challenge head-on; regardless of satellite visibility, our 3D ADR chip shows movement in three dimensions to maintain continuous and accurate positioning in tunnels, stacked highways, multi-level or underground parking facilities.”
The technology aids traditional GNSS navigation systems such as GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou by blending them with individual wheel speed, gyroscope and accelerometer information to maintain accurate 3D positioning even when satellite signals are completely lost.
The UBX-M8030-Kx-DR chip is self-calibrating to compensate for sensor aging and temperature effects. It is compatible with virtually all vehicles and drive trains (i.e. front-, rear-, all-wheel drive), and supports a variety of sensor combinations. Sensor information can be derived from the vehicle’s sensors for the most cost-efficient implementation, or from external sensors for after-market solutions. The chip is AEC-Q100 qualified and is produced in ISO/TS Automotive certified production sites.
The chip requires minimum host integration or customization resulting in no risk, low cost, and fast time-to-market, u-blox said. Installation is uncritical thanks to automated software calibration. 3D ADR is accurate even at low speeds.
The chip allows for easy testing, simple and modular production set-up, and minimal BOM. The chip comes in a 40-pin QFN package measuring only 5 x 5 mm and includes I2C, SPI, UART and USB interfaces.
Connected vehicles can help to mitigate crashes on busy urban streets.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today that it will begin taking steps to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology for light vehicles. This technology would improve safety by allowing vehicles to “talk” to each other and ultimately avoid many crashes altogether by exchanging basic safety data, such as speed and position, ten times per second, the agency said.
“Vehicle-to-vehicle technology represents the next generation of auto safety improvements, building on the life-saving achievements we’ve already seen with safety belts and air bags,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “By helping drivers avoid crashes, this technology will play a key role in improving the way people get where they need to go while ensuring that the U.S. remains the leader in the global automotive industry.”
DOT research indicates that safety applications using V2V technology can address a large majority of crashes involving two or more motor vehicles. With safety data such as speed and location flowing from nearby vehicles, vehicles can identify risks and provide drivers with warnings to avoid other vehicles in common crash types such as rear-end, lane change, and intersection crashes. These safety applications have been demonstrated with everyday drivers under both real-world and controlled test conditions.
The safety applications being developed provide warnings to drivers so that they can prevent imminent collisions, but do not automatically operate any vehicle systems, such as braking or steering. NHTSA is also considering future actions on active safety technologies that rely on on-board sensors. Those technologies are eventually expected to blend with the V2V technology. NHTSA issued an Interim Statement of Policy in 2013 explaining its approach to these various streams of innovation. In addition to enhancing safety, these future applications and technologies could help drivers to conserve fuel and save time.
V2V technology does not involve exchanging or recording personal information or tracking vehicle movements. The information sent between vehicles does not identify those vehicles, but merely contains basic safety data. In fact, the system as contemplated contains several layers of security and privacy protection to ensure that vehicles can rely on messages sent from other vehicles and that a vehicle or group of vehicles would be identifiable through defined procedures only if there is a need to fix a safety problem.
In August 2012, DOT launched the Safety Pilot “model deployment” in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where nearly 3,000 vehicles were deployed in the largest-ever road test of V2V technology. DOT testing is indicating interoperability of V2V technology among products from different vehicle manufacturers and suppliers and has demonstrated that they work in real-world environments.
In driver clinics conducted by the Department prior to the model deployment, the technology showed high favorability ratings and levels of customer acceptance. Participants indicated they would like to have V2V safety features on their personal vehicle.
“V2V crash avoidance technology has game-changing potential to significantly reduce the number of crashes, injuries and deaths on our nation’s roads,” said NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman. “Decades from now, it’s likely we’ll look back at this time period as one in which the historical arc of transportation safety considerably changed for the better, similar to the introduction of standards for seat belts, airbags, and electronic stability control technology.”
NHTSA is now finalizing its analysis of the data gathered as part of its year-long pilot program and will publish a research report on V2V communication technology for public comment in the coming weeks. The report will include analysis of the Department’s research findings in several key areas including technical feasibility, privacy and security, and preliminary estimates on costs and safety benefits. NHTSA will then begin working on a regulatory proposal that would require V2V devices in new vehicles in a future year, consistent with applicable legal requirements, Executive Orders, and guidance. DOT believes that the signal this announcement sends to the market will significantly enhance development of this technology and pave the way for market penetration of V2V safety applications.
“We are pleased with the direction NHTSA is taking in terms of V2V technology,” said Greg Winfree, Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology. “The decision to move forward comes after years of dedicated research into the overwhelming safety benefits provided by a connected vehicle environment.”
V2V communications can provide the vehicle and driver with 360-degree situational awareness to address additional crash situations — including those, for example, in which a driver needs to decide if it is safe to pass on a two-lane road (potential head-on collision), make a left turn across the path of oncoming traffic, or in which a vehicle approaching at an intersection appears to be on a collision course. In those situations, V2V communications can detect threats hundreds of yards from other vehicles that cannot be seen, often in situations in which on-board sensors alone cannot detect the threat.
NHTSA has worked in close partnership in this research both with other DOT agencies, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and the Federal Highway Administration, and with several leading auto manufacturers and academic research institutions, who have invested significant resources into developing and testing V2V technology. The collaboration of government, industry and academia is critical to ensure V2V technology’s interoperability across vehicles.
The new Mazda3 infotainment system, which appears in Mazda3’s Active Driving Display, is now running on NNG’s iGO navigation engine, and includes TTS, voice recognition and full 3D navigation.
This solution, supported by Mazda’s MZD Connect, is also reportedly the first on the market to offer an embedded connected-service package with Internet connection provided through the driver’s smartphone. Drivers will be able to access dynamic local search, fuel prices, real-time traffic and weather information free of charge in the first 60 days, and benefit from three years of free map updates.
“Mazda’s new design, KODO, has really inspired us to develop an integrated infotainment system, with knowledge and refined features matching the look and performance of the car,” said Péter Balogh, NNG. “We succeeded in offering cutting-edge solutions in the head unit, enhanced safety, usability and comfort to the driver.”
