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CEA Adopts MOST Network Standard

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 6/21/2004

ARLINGTON, VA.— CEA announced a new digital network standard for aftermarket car A/V components, that will allow aftermarket products of any brand to communicate with each other.

The standard, called the CEA-2012 MOST network, is based on the MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) standard — a fiber-optic network used in many luxury vehicles.

In addition to creating a digital platform by which all car A/V components can interface (for example, a Pioneer head unit with a Sony amplifier), the standard represents the first step in allowing aftermarket products to seamlessly work with factory OEM radios, telematics, video and other products.

In the future, MOST aftermarket products could plug into a gateway in a MOST automotive network, said CEA mobile electronics division staff director, Chris Cook. CEA is attempting to create this gateway. "The first effort was to create an aftermarket standard. The next step is to work with the MOST Corporation to develop a gateway between the aftermarket MOST network and the automotive MOST network," he said.

Alpine said it has begun preliminary R&D on producing MOST products, including products that could plug into the car's MOST network and work with the car's components. The earliest a MOST product could be available is 2006, said the company.

Pat Lavelle, president and CEO of Audiovox and chair of CEA's mobile electronics division board. said, "The CEA-2012 MOST standard will allow the mobile electronics aftermarket to develop products that can safely and quickly interface with the evermore sophisticated vehicles being designed today. Although this is just a first step in the process, it will ultimately prove to be the most important."

According to CEA, more than 30 vehicle models currently use the MOST network, which delivers A/V signals at data speeds of nearly 30 megabits per second. Competing car network standards include IDB-1394, an automotive-grade version of the high-speed 400-megabits-per-second IEEE-1394 standard, which is also known as Firewire.

The MOST standard is currently used in cars from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar and Saab. Other auto makers, including Ford, General Motors, Land Rover, Porsche, Volvo and Volkswagen are also expected to employ MOST in the future, said CEA.

The CEA-2012-MOST network application is available from Global Engineering Documents at http://global.ihs.com.