4.Vehicular Dependence

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LIKE IT OR NOT, OUR LIVES ARE

intricately woven with our automobiles

in numerous ways. According to the

U.S. Department of Transportation,

there are 84 million Americans who are

driving a collective 500 million hours a

week with every motorist spending

nearly six hours per week in a car. This

dependence on automobiles provides

an excellent opportunity for automobile

manufacturers to enhance the overall

driving experience. On the manufactur-

ing side, the automotive industry has

become stagnant, and manufacturers

are looking to add new features to be

competitive.

Telematics is the solution for inject-

ing the automotive industry with new

life and technology while greatly

enhancing the driving experience.

Telematics is the convergence of

telecommunications and information

processing for automation in vehicles.

Currently an emerging technology,

telematics has yet to see the true scope

of its potential. Figure 1 shows the

bright prospects for telematics, which

tend to be geared toward either the dri-

ver or the passengers.

How does telematics work? In a nut-

shell, telematics deals with wireless

communications between a moving

vehicle and an outside, location-based

service. It enhances the experience of

being in an automobile for the driver as

well as the passenger by efficiently

managing information among diverse

sources. Data produced by the telemat-

ics device is sent to appropriate servers

where actions are taken to benefit the

driver and passengers. Similarly, the

telematics unit also provides the capa-

bility of receiving information in the car

from outside sources.

Telematics is an evolving field that

consists of key technologies such as

local Yellow Book listings, global posi-

tioning system (GPS) navigation, real-

time vehicle performance data, and dis-

tress-signal transmission. To project the

direction in which this emerging tech-

nology is heading, it is crucial to have a

comprehensive understanding of the

current state and goals of telematics. In

this article, we take a snapshot of

telematics in its current state and devel-

op a picture of what telematics services

0278-6648/07/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE12 IEEE POTENTIALS

© PHOTOSPIN, STOCKBYTE, ARTVILLE

LUKE GRYMEK,SATNAM SINGH, ANDKRISHNA PATTIPATI

VEHICULAR DEPENDENCE

ADDS TO TELEMATICS’ ALLURE



Route Assistance Real-TimePerformance Data

Traffic Info

Telematics Opportunities

EmergencyHelp

Voice RecognitionInterface

Email

Television/DVD

Gaming

Shop Online

Driver-Oriented Features

Passenger-Oriented Features

MARCH/APRIL 2007 13

will look like in the near future. Wepresent a succinct review of existingtechnical and business literature abouttelematics along with the key techno-logical challenges to the future growthof telematics.

TELEMATICS AFTERMARKET

While telematics is immature,it is growing at a rapid rate. In

Boeke’s MBA dissertation,numerous indicators are iden-tified that suggest a strongupward trend in telematicsgrowth. There are several rea-sons why this field is destinedto grow both technologically and economically. First, GPSreceiver chips have become inex-pensive. As a result, they will bereadily available to automobile users.Second, telematics deals with wirelesstechnology; therefore, its growth isquite promising with the increased

usage of cellular phones and Internetaccess.

Telematics provides a new opportu-nity where telecommunicationscompanies can use already existing networks to receive more returns on theirinvestments. General Motors (GM) isplanning to offer advanced features intheir OnStar navigation units andintends to make them standard in alltheir vehicles by 2007.

Zhao predicted that by the end of 2007, 55.5% of new vehicles will beequipped with telematics-ready units,

compared to 7.5% in 2001. Also, withinthe same time frame, the world rev-enue from the telematics field isexpected to increase to US$14.4 bil-lion. The number of vehicle manufac-turers and vehicle models offeringtelematics has been steadily growing, while the average cost of telematicshas been shrinking. All of these arepositive indicators of a strong futurefor telematics.

While GM and Ford may be the leadmanufacturers of telematics services inthe United States, telematics services inother countries, Japan in particular,have achieved greater growth. Japanalone is predicted to see US$11.2 billionin revenue by 2010. In October 2002,Toyota released its own telematics service unit in Japan called the G-Book.Since its initial release, Toyota vehiclesequipped with the G-Book have beenable to offer many telematics servicesthat only recently have become avail-able in the United States.

GOALS OF TELEMATICS

Telematics is an application of wire-less networks in automobiles. As dis-cussed by A. Karimi et al., there arefive major goals for telematics: 1) navi-gation and accessibility, 2) safety andsecurity, 3) infotainment/entertainment,4) vehicle maintenance, and 5) produc-

tivity. These goals may support oneanother. For example, being able toeasily maintain the vehicle can reducethe chance of unexpected vehiclebreakdowns, thus increasing comfort,safety, and security. The goals may alsocontradict one another. For example,adding more entertainment featuresmay distract the driver, thus reducingsafety or productivity.

Telematics can enhance navigationand information access capabilities forthe driver by providing a means tocommunicate with the outside world.Through a wireless network, the telem-atics unit has access to valuable anduseful information for the driver.Telematics also increases the safety andsecurity of the automobile for the driverand passengers. For instance, if adversedriving conditions are approaching, atelematics unit can inform the driverand then suggest an alternate course of action. The goals of enhancing the info-tainment/entertainment in an automo-

bile are mostly aimed at passengers tomake the car journey more enjoyable.

Another goal of telematics is to sup-port and improve automotive vehiclemaintenance. Many automobile manu-facturers plan to have electronic con-trol units (ECUs) for fault detectionand diagnosis (FDD) in their vehicles.

The FDD system uses advanced statisti-cal techniques to detect, identify, andisolate vehicle faults. As these electron-ic units become more prevalent, atelematics unit can increase the ease of vehicle maintenance by using theinformation obtained by the FDD sys-tem and communicating this informa-tion to the driver and vehicle mainte-nance operators.

Telematics services

Currently, telematics systems areavailable in high-end vehicles or as acostly option in mid-level vehicles.OnStar and Wingcast are the currenttelematics services leaders in the UnitedStates, which are owned by GM andFord, respectively. For the cost of initialhardware and a monthly fee, thesecompanies provide some selectivetelematics services. Those servicesinclude GPS navigation, informationlistings, such as Yellow Book, and dis-tress signal transmission capability

Fig. 1 Automotive telematics opportunities



14 IEEE POTENTIALS

through an electronic unit embedded in

the vehicle’s dashboard.

Distress signal A feature of the telematics unit with

significant consumer interest is the dis-

tress signal. Upon a breakdown or

severe accident, the driver is able to

quickly contact an emergency service

using the distress signal and address

the situation. By having the distresssignal service, the driver doesn’t need

to worry when he is stranded in the

middle of a desert in Nevada or alone

after a near-fatal accident. A distress

signal uses a cell-phone communica-

tion link and the GPS data. The signal

can be sent either manually by the

automobile user or automatically by

an electronic unit embedded in the

dashboard. Automatic signals are sent

when a particular sensor is triggered,

such as if windows break or air bags

go off. When that happens, the GPS

unit will send the vehicle’s locationinformation and the vehicle identifica-

tion number (VIN) to the emergency

service providers.

GPS navigation With the GPS unit, a driver can

obtain reasonably accurate information

about his/her location. By typing in the

desired destination, the driver can learn

an optimal route to take. Based on the

driver’s input, the onboard telematics

unit will provide listings for the local

area Yellow Book using the GPS data

and local maps.

Current navigation telematics is also

blending real-time traffic data with his-

torical data to provide the driver withthe best route to his/her destination.

In Japan, Vehicle Information

Communication System (VICS) is a

prominent provider of traffic informa-

tion telematics services. An onboard

VICS unit can provide accurate high-

way information for freeways up to

200 km away and accurate local road

information for roads up to 30 km

away. VICS obtains its traffic informa-

tion either by radio wave or infrared

beacons. The telematics unit uses

voice directions to navigate the driver

on the route. For every turn, thetelematics unit can explain associated

distances and approximate t imes

based on the current speed and dis-

tance. Figure 2 illustrates an advanced

navigation scenario. The vehicle is

originally on the shortest and quickest

route to its destination (Route A).

However, there has been an accident;

traffic is backed up, and Route A is no

longer the quickest route. The telemat-

ics system detects the traffic hold up

and redirects the driver onto Route B,

thereby providing the safest and quick-

est route to the desired destination.

Yellow pages listings

In addition to traffic navigation, theonboard telematics also informs the dri-

ver of nearby ATMs, gas stations, and

local restaurants. The driver can interact

with local listings (e.g., make a reserva-

tion at the restaurant, prepay for a

product at a store, etc.) through the

telematics services. One such telematics

service is provided by Toyota, which is

referred in its G-Book’s Yellow Book

listings as Live Navigation. The Live

Navigation service aims to create a

dynamic driving experience where the

onboard unit anticipates driver interests

by suggesting appropriate dining loca-tions and events.

F igure 3 (a) exempli f ie s idea l

human voice interaction with the

telematics unit. Figure 3(b) displays

how several integrated telematics ser-

vices can be beneficial to the driver.

When the telematics system recognizes

low fuel levels, the GPS system with

local maps and yellow book listings

informs the driver of how to alleviate

the situation.

A new telematics service is expect-

ed to be available in the near future

for parking space availability notifica-tion. XM Satellite Radio is collaborat-

ing with electronic sensor companies

and parking garage owners so that dri-

vers can view the percentages of avail-

able parking spots located within the

vicinity of their destination. Several

business offices, sports and concert

venus, and airports plan to install the

parking notification telematics service

in the near future.

Enhanced real-time data Currently, automobile maintenance

can be considered either preventive or

reactive. A preventive maintenance

strategy is characterized by the operator

adhering to maintenance schedules

consisting of fluid and part replacement

as well as routine check ups. The pre-

ventive strategy fails when tasks

required by the maintenance schedule

are unnecessary; a part may be

replaced despite still being functional.

The end result is loss of money andFig. 2 Advanced navigation system in automobiles

Vehicle isinitially onroute A to

destination.

Traffic serviceinforms driverand suggests

alternate route.

Traffic service isinformed of traffic

holdup dueto an accident.

Destination

R o u t e A

R o u t e B



MARCH/APRIL 2007 15

time. Reactive maintenance refers to

measures taken where there is a direct

need. The reactive maintenance strategy

also is inefficient because faults occurbefore the operator realizes their exis-

tence, which results in higher repair

costs and longer time without the vehi-

cle. Telematics provides a third strategy

with remote diagnostics. Telematics can

allow distant servers to have access to

the ECU information. Consequently, the

servers can execute the remote diagnos-

tic techniques to do a better assessment

of maintenance requirement without

being too reactive or preventive. Such

condition-based maintenance efficiency

will have tremendous consumer sup-

port because maintenance accounts forapproximately 40% of a vehicle’s life-

time costs.

OnStar recently made available its

own real-time data assessment ser-

vice. The service is available only to

GM vehicles manufactured in the past

three years. Using this service, the

manufacturer or dealer would have

access to real-time vehicle and dri-

ving data to assess how the vehicle is

performing and to make appropriate

service reservations. A recent experi-

mental application of onboard diag-

nostic and prognostic systems is the

carbon dioxide emissions control in

California. The wireless monitoring

system keeps an eye on the emis-

sions system of a vehicle. Based on

the diverse data sets, the automobile

maintenance service determines if the

vehicle emission system is faulty. The

driver can be encouraged to fix the

problem before an excess of harmful

emissions are released into the air.

Superior human machine interface As the quantity and complexity of

the telematics services continue to rise,

a safe driver-friendly interface is alsobecoming vital. The voice-based user

interface appears to be the most promis-

ing means for effective communication

between the driver, passengers, and the

telematics system. An example of voice-

based user interface is the G-Book’s My

Request telematics service, which pro-

vides access to information through sim-

ple operations or voice commands. The

resulting information is read to the dri-

ver by a synthesized voice.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES

When looking toward the futureopportunities of telematics, there are

roadblocks that must be overcome to

make progress. The Telematics

Research Group has shown that a fun-

damental technological challenge is the

slow processor speed of the telematics

hardware units. The telematics proces-

sors lag behind personal computer pro-

cessing units by an astounding four to

six years. For example, a 2007 telemat-

ics microprocessor unit will have the

performance comparable to that of a

2002 Pentium 4 microprocessor of

about 1 GHz. This delay in hardware

capabilities will hinder the development

of an advanced telematics system.

Another hardware issue associated

with telematics is the fact that the elec-

tronics and the automobiles have

entirely different life spans and devel-

opment cycles. Developing a vehicle

takes between five and six years, and

the vehicle life tends to be seven to ten

years. On the other hand, the life of a

modern telematics unit tends to be one

to two years. Hence, many manufactur-

ers are hesitant to put modern telemat-

ics units on their vehicles that willquickly become obsolete. A solution to

this issue could be the standardization

of the signal processing, information

flow, and information management

within the telematics system.

A safe human-machine interface is

required for a fully integrated telematics

unit. It would be inefficient and unsafe

to have a separate unit for every telem-

atics service. By adding additional

wiring to accommodate more telematics

services, weight is added to the vehicle,

and it becomes more difficult to adhere

to standards and reliability. Leen andHeffernan suggest potential solutions to

the integration problem that include a

domestic data bus, Bluetooth, mobile

media link, flex ray, and a time-trig-

gered controller area network (CAN).

A specific problem currently faced

by the telematics developers is the inte-

gration of portable music players with a

vehicle and its telematics unit. Cellport

Systems is trying to tackle this integra-

tion challenge. They have been success-

ful in providing a vehicle docking sta-

tion where operators can put their per-

sonal digital assistant (PDAs), iPODs,

and cell phones to operate through the

vehicle interface.

A final technological challenge is to

secure the telematics data. Especially if

financial transactions are made over the

telematics system, it is crucial that only

authorized users can access it.

Manipulation of the telematics informa-

tion by unauthorized sources can be

detrimental and harmful.

I'm starving, is there anyrestaurant within 10 mileswhere I can get a meal

for under $10?

(a)

Along your current route, there willbe a Taco Bell in about 6 minutes

and if you want to turn off the route,there is a Subway in 5 minutes.

You have just fallen under aquarter of a tank of gas, at currentrate you can travel up to 50 moremiles. A Mobil gas station in 11miles has the cheapest gas onyour route at $2.75 a gallon.

(b)

Fig. 3 (a) Advanced voice recognition and (b) advanced FDD and voice recognition



CONCLUSIONS

Telematics services are very promis-ing, and they have the potential to sig-nificantly enhance the automobile driving experience. However, despite allthe potential a telematics system has tooffer, its growth depends upon con-sumers and manufacturers. The telem-atics aftermarket will determine which

services will be included in the future

vehicles. Providing diverse andadvanced telematics services requirescollaboration among the companiesthat specialize in vastly different enter-prises, such as location-based trafficcenters, Yellow Book listings, wirelessnetwork providers, and automobilemanufacturers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by National Science Foundation as part of the Research Experience forUndergraduates (REU) program at the

Department of Electrical and ComputerEngineering (ECE) in the University of Connecticut, Storrs. The authors wouldlike to thank Eric Donkor, coordinator

of the REU program in the ECE depart-ment at UConn.

READ MORE ABOUT IT

• J. Boeke, “European car telemat-ics— who will capture most value?,”MBA dissertation, Judge Institute of Management, Univ. Cambridge,England, 2001.

• A. Karimi, J. Olsson, and J. Rydell,

“A software approach to remote vehiclediagnostics,” M.S. thesis, Dept.Informatics, Univ. Göteborg, Göteborg,Sweden, 2004.

• T. Titsworth, “Telematics mightsteer your car into the future,” IEEE

Multimedia, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 9–10, Jul.-Sept. 2002.

• G. Leen and D. Heffernan,“Expanding automotive electronicsystems,” Computer , vol. 35, no. 1, pp.88–93, Jan. 2002.

• Telematics Research Group,[Online]. Available: www.telematicsre-

searchgroup.com• D.E. Zoia, “XM to roll out real

time-parking info system,” Aug. 2006.[Online]. Available: http://www.

e d m u n d s . c o m / i n s i d e l i n e / d o /News/articleId=116376

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Luke Grymek is an undergraduatestudent in electrical engineering atColumbia University, New York. He is aStudent Member of IEEE. This was hisfirst research experience, which was

through the REU program at the

University of Connecticut. His researchinterest are controls and optimization.

Satnam Singh is a Ph.D. student atthe Department of Electr ical andComputer Engineering, the University of Connecticut. He has been a review-er for IEEE Potentials magazine for thepast three years and has served as thepresident of the IEEE Student Branchat University of Connecticut during2003–2004.

Krishna Pattipati is a professor of electrical and computer engineering atthe University of Connecticut. His

research has been primarily in theapplication of systems theory and opti-mization techniques to complex sys-tems. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

16 IEEE POTENTIALS

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