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Telematics: Past, Present, and Future 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 6 hours a

week in a car. This dependence on automobiles provides an excellent opportunity for automobile

manufacturers to enhance the overall driving experience. Also, on the manufacturing side, the

automotive industry has become stagnant, and manufacturers are looking to add new features to

be competitive. Telematics is the solution for injecting the automotive industry with new life and

technology, while also greatly enhancing the driving experience. It is the convergence of

telecommunications and information processing for automation in vehicles. Telematics is an

emerging technology that has yet to see the true scope of its potential. Fig. 1 shows the bright

prospects for telematics, which tend be geared towards either the driver or the passengers.

Emergency help

Route assistance Real time

performance data

Voice recognition interface

Traffic info

Television / DVD

Shop onlineEmail

Gaming

Telematics opportunities

Fig. 1 Automotive telematics opportunities

What is telematics? In a nutshell, telematics deals with wireless communications between a

moving vehicle and an outside location-based service. It enhances the driver’s and passenger’s

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experience in an automobile by efficiently managing information among diverse sources. Data

produced by the telematics device is sent to appropriate servers, where actions are taken to benefit

the driver and passengers. Similarly, the telematics unit also provides the capability to receive

information in the car from outside sources.

Telematics is an evolving field; it consists of key technologies, such as local yellow book

listings, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, real-time vehicle performance data, and

distress signal transmission. To project the direction in which this emerging technology is

heading, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the current state and goals of

telematics. In this paper, we take a snapshot of current telematics, and develop a picture of the

near-future telematics services. We present a succinct review of existing technical and business

literature of telematics, along with the key technological challenges in the future growth of

telematics.

Telematics Aftermarket The current state of telematics is immature, but is growing at a rapid rate. In Boeke’s MBA

dissertation, numerous indicators are identified that suggest a strong upward trend in telematics

growth. There are several reasons why telematics is destined to grow both technologically and

economically. First, the GPS receiver chips have become inexpensive; hence, they will be readily

available to automobile users. Second, telematics deals with wireless technology; therefore, its

growth is quite promising with the increased usage of cellular phones and internet access.

Telematics provides a new opportunity where telecommunications companies can use the

already existing networks to receive more returns on their investments. General Motors (GM) is

planning to offer advanced features in their OnStar navigation units, and plans on making them

standard in all their vehicles by 2007.

It is predicted that by 2007, 55.5% of new vehicles will be equipped with telematics ready

units, versus only 7.5% in 2001. Also, within the same time frame, the world revenue from the

telematics is expected to increase to 14.4 billion US dollars. The number of vehicle manufacturers

and vehicle models offering telematics has been steadily growing, while the average cost of

telematics has been shrinking; all of these are positive indicators of a strong future for telematics.

While GM and Ford may lead the United States, telematics services in other countries, Japan

in particular, have achieved greater growth. Japan alone is predicted to see 11.2 billion US

dollars in revenue by 2010. In October 2002, Toyota released in Japan its own telematics service

unit called the G-Book. Over the course of the years since its initial release, Toyota vehicles

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equipped with the G-Book have been able to offer many telematics services; these services have

only recently been made available in the United States.

Telematics Goals Telematics is an application of wireless networks in automobiles. As discussed in a Masters

Thesis by Karimi et. al., there are five major goals for telematics: (1) navigation and accessibility,

(2) safety and security, (3) infotainment/entertainment, (4) vehicle maintenance, and (5)

productivity. These goals may support one another, for example, being able to easily maintain the

vehicle can reduce the chance of unexpected vehicle breakdowns and thus increase comfort,

safety and security. They may also contradict one another, for example, adding more

entertainment features may distract the driver and thus reduce safety or productivity.

Telematics can enhance navigation and information access capabilities for the driver by

providing a means to communicate with the outside world. Through a wireless network, the

telematics unit has access to valuable and useful information for the driver. Telematics also

increases the safety and security of the automobile for the driver and passengers. For instance, if

adverse driving conditions are approaching, a telematics unit can inform the driver and then

suggest an alternate course of action. Telematics goals of enhancing the

infotainment/entertainment in an automobile are mostly aimed at passengers to make the car

journey more enjoyable.

Another goal of telematics is to support and improve automotive vehicle maintenance. Many

automobile manufacturers are planning to have electronic control units (ECU’s) for fault

detection and diagnosis (FDD) in their vehicles. The FDD system uses advanced statistical

techniques to detect, identify, and isolate vehicle faults. As these electronic units become more

prevalent, a telematics unit can increase the ease of vehicle maintenance by using the information

obtained by the FDD system, and communicating this information with the driver and vehicle

maintenance operators.

Telematics Services Currently, telematics systems are available in high-end vehicles, or as a costly option in mid-

level vehicles. OnStar and Wingcast are the current telematics services leaders in the United

States, which are owned by GM and Ford, respectively. For the cost of initial hardware and a

monthly fee, these companies provide some selective telematics services, such as GPS navigation,

information listings, such as yellow book, and distress signal transmission capability through an

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electronic unit embedded in the vehicle’s dashboard. In this section, we describe major telematics

services.

Distress Signal A feature of telematics unit with significant consumer interest is the distress signal. Upon a

breakdown or severe accident, the driver is able to quickly contact an emergency service using

the distress signal and rapidly address the situation. By having the distress signal 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 communication link and the GPS

data. The signal can either be sent 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 if airbags go off. The GPS unit can send the vehicle

location information and vehicle identification number (VIN) to the emergency service providers.

GPS Navigation With the GPS unit, a driver can obtain reasonably accurate information about his location. By

typing in the desired destination, the driver can learn an optimal route to take for his journey.

Based on the driver’s input, the onboard telematics unit also provides local area yellow book

listings using the GPS data and local maps.

Current navigation telematics is also blending real-time traffic data with historical data to

provide the driver with the best route to his destination. In Japan, Vehicle Information

Communication System, (VICS) is a prominent provider of traffic information telematics services.

An onboard VICS unit can provide accurate highway information for freeways up to 200 km

away, and accurate local road information for roads up to 30 km away. VICS obtains its traffic

information either by radio wave or infrared beacons. The telematics unit uses voice directions to

navigate the driver on the route. For every turn, the telematics unit can say associated distances

and approximate times based on the current speed and distance. Fig. 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 telematics system detects the traffic hold up and redirects the driver onto

Route B, thereby providing the safest and quickest route to the desired destination.

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Fig. 2 Advanced navigation system in automobiles

Yellow Book Listings

In addition to traffic navigation,

the onboard telematics also informs

of nearby ATMs, gas stations, and

local restaurants. The driver can

interact with local listings (e.g., make

a reservation 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 locations and events.

Fig. 3a Advanced voice recognition

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Fig. 3a exemplifies ideal human

voice interaction with the telematics

unit. Fig. 3b displays how several

integrated telematics services 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 how to alleviate

the situation.

A new telematics service is

expected to be available in the near

future for parking space availability

notification. XM Satellite Radio is collaborating with electronic sensor companies and parking

garage owners so that drivers can view percentages of available parking spots located within the

vicinity of their destination. Several business offices, sports and concert venues and airports are

planning 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 preventive

strategy fails when tasks required by the maintenance schedule are unnecessary; a part may be

replaced despite being still functional. The end result is loss of money and time. Reactive

maintenance refers to measures taken where there is a direct need. The reactive maintenance

strategy is also inefficient because faults occur before the operator realizes, which results in

higher repair costs and longer time without the vehicle. Telematics provides a third strategy with

remote diagnostics. Telematics can allow distant servers access to the ECU information.

Consequently, the servers can execute the remote diagnostic techniques to do a better assessment

of maintenance requirement without being too reactive or preventive. Such condition-based

maintenance efficiency will have tremendous consumer support, because maintenance cost

accounts for approximately 40% of a vehicle’s lifetime costs.

OnStar has recently made available its own real-time data assessment service. The service is

available only to GM vehicles manufactured in the past 3 years. Using this service, the

Fig. 3b Advanced FDD and voice recognition

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manufacturer or dealer would have access to real-time vehicle and driving data to assess how the

vehicle is performing and to make appropriate service reservations. A recent experimental

application of onboard diagnostic and prognostic systems is the carbon dioxide emissions control

in California. The wireless monitoring system keeps an eye on the emissions 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 recommended 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 also becoming vital. The voice-based user interface appears to be the most

promising 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 provides access to information through simple operations or voice commands and the

resulting information is read to the driver by a synthesized voice.

Technological Challenges When looking towards the future opportunities of telematics, there are roadblocks which must

be overcome in order to make progress. The Telematics Research Group has shown that a

fundamental technological challenge is the slow processor speed of the telematics hardware units.

The telematics processors lag behind personal computer processing units by an astounding four to

six years. For example, a 2007 telematics microprocessor unit will have the performance

comparable to that of a 2002 Pentium 4 microprocessor of about 1 GHz. This delay in hardware

capabilities hinders the development of an advanced telematics system.

Another hardware issue associated with telematics is the fact that the electronics and the

automobiles have entirely different life spans and development 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 only between one and two years. Hence, many

manufacturers are hesitant to put modern telematics units on their vehicles that will quickly

become obsolete. A solution to this issue could be a 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 telematics 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 and Heffernan suggested potential

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solutions to the integration problem which includes a domestic data bus, Bluetooth, mobile media

link, flex ray, and a time-triggered controller area network (CAN).

A specific problem currently faced by the telematics developers is the integration of portable

music players with a vehicle and its telematics unit. Cellport Systems is trying to tackle this

integration challenge. They have been successful in providing in vehicle docking station where

operators can put their PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistant), IPOD’s, 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. It can be detrimental and harmful, if unauthorized sources can manipulate the telematics

information.

Conclusions Telematics services are very promising and they have the potential to significantly enhance the

automobile driving experience. However, despite all the potential a telematics system has to offer,

its growth depends upon the consumers and manufacturers. The telematics aftermarket will

determine which services will be included in the future vehicles. In order to provide diverse and

advanced telematics services, it requires collaboration among various companies. The companies

who specialize in vastly different enterprises, such as location-based traffic centers, yellow book

listings, wireless network providers, and automobile manufacturers, must all collaborate to

provide a unified and advanced telematics system.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by National Science Foundation as part of the Research Experience

for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Department of Electrical & Computer (ECE)

Engineering in University of Connecticut (UConn), Storrs, CT, USA. The authors would like to

thank Dr. Eric Donkor, coordinator of the REU program in the ECE department at UConn.

Read more about it

•J. Boeke, European car telematics – who will capture most value?, MBA dissertation,

Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge, England, 2001.

•A. Karimi, J. Olsson, and J. Rydell, A software approach to remote vehicle diagnostics,

Masters thesis dissertation, Department of Informatics, University Göteborg, Göteborg, Sweden,

2004.

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•"Telematics might steer your car into the future," IEEE Multimedia, vol. 09, no. 3, pp. 9-

10, Jul-Sept 2002.

•G. Leen and D. Heffernan, “Expanding automotive electronic systems,” Computer, vol. 35,

no. 1, pp. 88-93, January 2002.

•Telematics Research Group, www.telematicsresearchgroup.com

•"XM to roll out real time-parking info system,” August 2006

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=116376

About the authors Luke Grymek is an undergraduate student in electrical engineering at Columbia University,

New York. He is a student member of IEEE. This was his first research experience, which was

through the REU program at UConn. He desires to do future research in controls and optimization.

Satnam Singh is a PhD student at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

UConn. He is a reviewer for IEEE Potentials magazine for the past three years and he has also

served as the President of IEEE Student Branch at UConn during 2003-04. More information

about him is available at: http://www.engr.uconn.edu/~sas03013/ .

Krishna Pattipati is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UConn. His

research has been primarily in the application of systems theory and optimization techniques to

complex systems. Prof. Pattipati was elected a Fellow of the IEEE in 1995. His webpage is

http://www.engr.uconn.edu/ece/ece_facu_pattipati.htm .