e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tinroad]

Danl, a little more on that subject:

Chrysler opts for portable phones in telematics platform
http://www.embedded.com/story/OEG20011026S0082

(10/26/01, 03:17:41 PM EDT)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Chrysler Group, backed by a partner team that includes IBM, Intel and AT&T Wireless, unveiled a hands-free telematics concept Thursday (Oct. 25) that lets consumers continue to use portable cell phones in their cars and alleviates their concerns about driver distraction.

Chrysler's approach, which relies heavily on Bluetooth radio technology, departs dramatically from General Motors' OnStar model, which has dominated the market until now.

Instead of employing factory-installed, console-mounted phones, the company's platform will allow consumers to bring their cell phones into their cars, synchronize them with in-car voice-recognition systems and then lay the handsets on the front seat or even on the floor while they talk.

By designing the system in this way, engineers hope to appeal to a new breed of automotive consumers. "This changes the whole telematics world," said Patrick Kerrigan, director of Intel Corp.'s telematics operation in Chandler, Ariz. "Now, if you have a phone in your pocket or purse, you can use it hands-free in the car."

Automotive industry analysts said that the technology's simplicity could help fuel the growth of telematics, expanding it beyond its current clientele — composed mostly of early adopters — to include a broader swath of automotive customers. "Most consumers want to keep their technology simple and DaimlerChrysler has gone very much in that direction," said Dan Garretson, senior analyst for Forrester Research (Cambridge, Mass.). "Now OnStar is going to be forced to follow this model, too."

Chrysler Group executives at Thursday's press conference peppered their remarks with disparaging references to General Motors' OnStar technology, which uses embedded phones that typically remain in place for the life of a vehicle. In contrast, they said, their communications platform allows consumers to bring any kind of cell phone into a vehicle as long as it is Bluetooth-enabled.

"This gives us the option to tailor our products to the customer's demands," said Wolfgang Bernhard, Chrysler Group chief operating officer. "We're not using a one-size-fits-all approach here."

Altered status quo


Indeed, Chrysler's offering also differs from the status quo in how it plans to make money from its telematics system. Rather than attempting to profit from the service revenue, Chrysler will leave that to one of its partners, AT&T Wireless, which will provide cellular services.

Instead, Chrysler plans to profit from its telematics platform not only by enticing consumers to buy its cars, but also by being the hardware provider for the system. The company has worked with several major suppliers, including Intel, IBM, Johnson Controls and Gentex, to develop the electrical architecture and software backbone for its system.

Although the system basically uses on-board processing for voice recognition and other software chores, DaimlerChrysler engineers describe it as a "very thin-client" design. It will incorporate Intel's upcoming Xscale architecture, based on a StrongARM core that offers a 206-MHz clock speed, and StrataFlash memory. The hardware will help to process radio communications over Bluetooth frequencies, which will be used to link the handheld phone to the electrical architecture in the dashboard.

Intel engineers said the processor technology offers enough headroom to run the voice-recognition software, along with Bluetooth communications, text-to-speech and vehicle interface electronics, with no need for supplemental off-board processing. The processor was also said to be key because of its high Mips/watt performance ratio.

"This telematics technology has been waiting for a high-performance device with low enough power to do the things that need to be done," Kerrigan said. "This is a big jump in terms of performance in the dashboard." Engineers also said that one of the keys to the technology was its use of voice-recognition software that doesn't overburden the processor.

The design team for the system is employing Embedded ViaVoice from IBM Corp., a software tool that enables users to dial phone numbers or access an audio-address book by speaking preprogrammed commands. Unlike some automotive voice recognition programs, which use vocabularies of 2,000 words or more, the Embedded ViaVoice products come in versions ranging from 50-word vocabularies that need about 200k of RAM, to 500-word vocabularies that require about 500k of RAM and 600k of ROM.

Engineers said that larger voice recognition programs typically require bigger off-board, server-based memories and processors. Smaller embedded programs, they said, require users to memorize a menu of commands, while the larger ones are endowed with enough intelligence to figure out what the driver is trying to say.

Still, Chrysler executives said that the events of Sept. 11 proved that there is wisdom in creating more autonomous communication systems that can't be shut down in a single stroke because of an attack against a remote server.

Chrysler engineers also worked with counterparts from Gentex Corp. to develop microphones capable of dealing with interferences like road and wind noise, which can trip up even the best voice recognition systems.

Gentex, anticipating an automotive industry need for such products, went out two years ago and hired three engineers with 80 years of combined experience in designing microphones for the broadcast and aerospace industries, said Ken LeGrand, executive vice president and director of Gentex (Zeeland, Mich.).

The company then designed a rear-view mirror-based microphone that borrows some of the best features from array-type microphones while keeping the costs below those of array models. LeGrand said that the company's product uses a single transducer, instead of the four transducers often employed by array microphones (which typically cost $40 or more), and incorporates special plastic fins in the mirror to help the system deal with wind noise.

"We've made it waterproof and windproof and have given it the ability to cancel out noise," LeGrand said. "We've tried to give it as many characteristics of the array microphone as possible and still keep it affordable."

Platform foundation


Although DaimlerChrysler engineers steadfastly refused to talk about the company's future plans, the new telematics platform is rumored to be part of a program known internally as "Project Iceland," which lays the groundwork for an expanded effort in telematics.

The system as it stands today employs an Intel hardware foundation beneath a QNX v6.1 real-time operating system. A Java virtual machine sits on top of the RTOS and interfaces with the system applications. DaimlerChrysler engineers reportedly incorporated the QNX RTOS because Java middleware was critical for their interoperability needs, and QNX was originally born of the Java world, so they knew the two would be compatible.

The company's engineers have reportedly not ruled out using a Linux-based embedded operating system in the future, but currently believe those operating systems are not robust enough for their needs.

Although DaimlerChrysler is now employing a J-1850 multimedia bus for the system, it could eventually switch to a MOST fiber-optic bus, especially if more data-intensive video systems are added to the automotive mix, engineers said.

Industry analysts expect the technology platform's acceptance, or lack of it, to determine whether other automakers will follow suit with a similar approach. Chrysler executives admitted this week that Mercedes-Benz has no immediate plans to adopt the technology. "TeleAid [the Mercedes telematics platform] was born at a time when Bluetooth was not yet available," said Bernhard of the Chrysler Group.

Until now, the auto industry has debated whether embedded phones or portable phones would eventually prevail. Proponents of the embedded models point to their greater power (typically 3 W, as opposed to 0.6 W for handhelds) and their ever-present availability in the vehicle, which they say makes them superior safety devices. Proponents of handhelds, however, say that their units can be easily replaced, pointing out that few people ever keep their cell phones for ten years (the average life of a vehicle). They also say that most consumers prefer to deal with a single telephone bill, and therefore will choose to use one phone for multiple applications.

A recent research study, "Voice Drives Telematics Boom," conducted by Forrester Research, determined that consumers mostly want their telematics systems to offer safety and security, and are less interested in office-type productivity applications. Such findings bode well for systems that offer greater simplicity, said Garretson of Forrester Research, who authored the study.

Either way, Chrysler Group engineers said they are convinced they are heading down the right path with their new platform, and intend to continue building on that foundation.

"What customer doesn't want to bring his phone into the car and have it work seamlessly?" asked Karenann Terrell, director of the e-Connect Platform for DaimlerChrysler. "This is just common sense."