It’s probably a good thing that automobiles are thinking more and more for their distracted drivers.

Reading street signs, “talking” to other vehicles, circumnavigating traffic snarls, conducting remote diagnosis and even providing movies, music and instant communication like e-mail and Internet use on demand: there are scores of jobs diligently carried out by telematics, enabling vehicles to wirelessly communicate, navigate and entertain motorists via complex computerized systems.

The definitions and categories are as diverse as the jobs these systems perform. Regardless, telematics is expected to add up to a $6 billion a year industry by 2010.

With sophisticated sensors and smart, internal systems accessible at the push of a button or inflection of the voice, vehicles are sharing more information and carrying out tasks using a sea of computer code, designating electronics as the nervous system of the automobile.

Small, removable chunks of memory and portable media will make accessorizing an automobile in coming years not much different than upgrading a computer. Microsoft is even in on the game with its TBox, a two-button panel that works with a personal digital assistant (PDA), cell phone or other portable device through voice commands.

Fiat is already on board to use the TBox and Ford is giving it serious consideration, according to Automotive News.

Advanced safety functions are in play as well, like black box accident data retrieval and in-vehicle cameras to keep an eye on the road and read road signs, along with systems that keep drivers in their lanes; automakers even boast that cameras can monitor where the driver’s eyes are aimed to ensure alertness, not to mention the sensors being developed that researchers say can directly read the motorist’s brain.

Some companies, mainly luxury carmakers, report progress in comfort and convenience, such as isolating sound and temperature to particular areas of the automobile, customizing smells and starting the vehicle or adjusting seats by accessing a remote website location.

Other features are in store, like fingerprint recognition, automated parking and ultrasound technology.

In the 1970s, only 9 percent of a vehicle’s value was derived from electronics, according to Detroit News, which added that by 2010, the number of electronics in the vehicle will total 40 percent. And from there, the number is expected to double only three years after.

“It’s all about wireless,” says Phil Magney, president and principal analyst of the Telematics Research Group. “(Telematics) is enabling us to do things in the vehicle that were once only available in the home or office.” Magney refers to such functions as checking e-mail, surfing the Net and taking advantage of voice-activated technology to operate the vehicle. “The cockpit of the vehicle is changing drastically.”

TRG names backseat entertainment, navigation and the use of Bluetooth-based wireless communications, which enables hands-free cell phone use inside the car, as leading features for the 2005 model year. About 28 out of 37 auto manufacturers are offering navigation and backseat entertainment — found in 10 percent of 2004 MY vehicles. And, about one-quarter of vehicles sold by the end of the decade are expected to include backseat entertainment, according to TRG.

Piggybacking on existing signals

Telematics systems once relied exclusively on satellites to communicate, but now providers are piggybacking on digital cellular signals through agreements with carriers like Sprint and Verizon, making the act of communication more cost-effective and helping the technology reach “critical mass.”

A network service provider taking advantage of existing cellular carriers is Aeris.net, which offers its proprietary MicroBurst mobile to mobile (M2M) network to 30 North American wireless carriers, covering 350 million people, according to the company.

Aeris.net began as a specialized data network for security systems and still contracts with such well-known customers as ADT and Brinks. 

“What you want is a wireless network that is constantly listening, always on,” says Dick Gossen, Aeris.net’s president and CEO.

The hardware, which can be found at big box electronic stores and is made by companies like Audiovox, serves a number of purposes, such as setting a speed limit on the vehicle and recovering stolen cars.

For example, if a vehicle is stolen, it will first transmit its exact location. Then, the vehicle will go into a shutdown mode: “When the thing comes to a halt, the engine stalls, the doors lock and the horn goes off,” describes Gossen.

A telematics system should comprise a multi-layered network service that manages multiple channels, he believes. “You want someone to seamlessly open the multiple channels at the same time.”

After its purchase of WirelessCar last year, Aeris.net deployed AerFrame to help manage these channels. If an automobile crash is detected, the monitoring center can switch from a data channel to a voice channel, speaking directly to the driver to possibly get more information, as well as dispatching emergency personnel to the scene. GM’s OnStar uses a similar system.

“If we own the networks, then we can access all those layers from voice and data on down with MicroBurst,” continues Gossen.

The transition of cellular providers from analog to digital will also assist this reliance on cellular networks, says Joerg Dittmer, senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Though many services such as OnStar support both digital and analog networks, “In 2008, cellular carriers won’t be obliged to support analog networks anymore,” he adds.

Like TRG, Dittmer agrees Bluetooth is an emerging trend, the advantage being that cell phones are used as hardware. A disadvantage to this portability, though, is that stolen vehicle tracking will be compromised when the hardware is not permanently installed, he adds.

Commercial push helps critical mass

The path to the widespread acceptance of telematics is additionally being pushed along by commercial fleets, which have used global positioning systems (GPS) for quite some time to keep tabs on vehicles and cargo.

A number of network service and hardware suppliers in telematics currently sustain themselves doing business with the commercial end of the market, but the passenger vehicle side is soon expected to follow.

WebTech Wireless, which provides wireless solutions for commercial fleets, says better cellular signal coverage has prompted more complete fleet service, even in the desolate rural thoroughfares that once afforded only spotty coverage.

Chief Technology Officer Cameron Fraser admits that penetration in fleets is still relatively low. He says the next challenge will be integration with back-office systems.

WebTech offers a wireless tracking system in conjunction with partner TireStamp’s tire monitoring system, which will help back-office personnel keep an eye on tire pressure to help reduce roadside delays. The companies featured the solution at a recent industry telematics conference in Detroit.

The tire pressure monitoring system also has safety benefits for other motorists on the road, suggests Fraser. “There have been some instances where a large truck tire came apart on the freeway and went through a car’s windshield,” he says.

A system by Networkcar, primarily aimed at fleets, plugs into an on-board diagnostic port to send wireless information to a secure website, says President Dave Dutch.

He sees fleets as the first adopters of this technology because of their more powerful ROI.

Networkcar performs automatic vehicle location (AVL) and remote diagnostics. Along with providing vehicle tracking and monitoring mileage and other functions that Dutch says saves labor costs for companies, Networkcar conducts remote emission tests in agreement with governmental bodies. He says this feature saves a company the time and transportation involved with driving to a smog check station.

The star of the show (The story of OnStar)

OnStar has become the gauge of the current state of vehicle telematics and the litmus test to which all others are compared. GM plans to install the telematics system in all of its retail vehicles by the end of 2007, which the Telematics Research Group believes will bring this technology to the forefront with a velocity never before seen.

Along with lowering the cost of installing the system, OnStar’s standard equipment push will heighten awareness of telematics among the general public, as well as pressure GM’s competitors to follow suit, TRG believes.

OnStar is a complete solution that takes advantage of multiple wireless channels for navigation and safety, among a score of other features. 

“This is going to revolutionize the amount of services that are going to be provided,” says Jim Schell, manager of OnStar Communications, who adds there are currently more than 3 million subscribers to the service.

The independent repair sector has definitely taken notice as remote diagnostic capabilities are keeping motorists captive to the carmaker for maintenance and repair.

GM’s foray into telematics is the result of a long path that traces back at least 15 years.

“From a business perspective, back in the ’90s, GM was trying to figure out how they could provide customers with additional services,” says Joe Adrid, who was involved with the groundwork that would later become OnStar. “The big push was customer loyalty and how we could add value to that customer base.”

Adrid, currently account director for the aftermarket solutions team of R. L. Polk & Co., worked for Electronic Data Systems at the time, which handled the information data processing expertise of this groundbreaking project. GM also worked with Hughes Electronics (who offered satellite technology) and Delco Remy during this period, says Adrid. 

From a technology standpoint, the early ’90s was an era at the convergence of  GPS, cell phone technology and the Internet, lining up all the pieces for this project that would reshape vehicle technology.

“The safety and security measures of this were a major component back then and I really think it carries its focus today,” offers Adrid. As sophisticated as OnStar becomes, one of its features is still as vital now as it was back then: having the doors unlocked when the keys are accidentally locked inside, he points out. (OnStar receives 36,000 requests a month for remote door unlocks.)

Adrid performed market research for EDS and recalls skepticism from focus groups that evaluated the system, which was known throughout its development by such handles as Project Beacon and Mobile Communications Services.

“People were in that George Orwellian (mindset) and were cautiously optimistic,” he says. Luckily, the public at large has become more accustomed to technology in subsequent years. 

“I think very highly of what OnStar has done over the past 15 years,” Adrid adds. “It’s interesting to think about the next 15 years.”

New developments for OnStar include an advanced automatic crash notification (AACN) that uses a group of sensors to notify OnStar about the severity of the crash and other factors to help emergency personnel quickly determine what services are needed at the scene.

“For 2005, AACN is on 12 models,” says Schell. “As we go forward, we’ll be expanding this to other models.”

Other improvements include enhanced voice recognition and continuous hands-free dialing. Previously, the driver was forced to speak each number slowly into the system.