Dashtop mobile
Encyclopedia
Dashtop mobile equipment refers to wireless mobile devices mounted on the vehicle dashboard. Dashtop mobile equipment (DME) includes satellite radios, GPS navigation, OnStar
OnStar
OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, hands free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada and China. A similar service is known as ChevyStar in Latin...

, mobile TV, HD radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...

, vehicle tracking system
Vehicle tracking system
A vehicle tracking system combines the installation of an electronic device in a vehicle, or fleet of vehicles, with purpose-designed computer software at least at one operational base to enable the owner or a third party to track the vehicle's location, collecting data in the process from the...

, MVEDR
MVEDR
MVEDR is an acronym for Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorder. It is also called EDR or Vehicle Black Box. GM and Ford are known to have released vehicles equipped with MVEDR since 2000.-History:...

 and Broadband Wireless Access
Broadband wireless access
Wireless Broadband refers to technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area.-The term broadband:...

 (BWA) devices. Currently, the dashtop mobile devices are mostly satellite-based wireless technology. Except for OnStar and BWA devices, most of them are in the stage of passive one-way communications equipment.

However, fast-evolving mobile technology is on the threshold of turning dashtop mobile equipment into full-duplex multimedia gadgetry on the strength of fast-growing broadband infrastructure, including expanding WiMAX
WiMAX
WiMAX is a communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas. The 2005 WiMAX revision provided bit rates up to 40 Mbit/s with the 2011 update up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations...

 networks worldwide. of electronic vehicle gadgetry, with growing indications that convergence into an all-in-one dashtop mobile device is an ultimate destination.

History

Since the commercial debut of cellular phones in the early 1990s, Palm Inc took the lead in developing a generation of palmtop handheld personal computers that worked like an electronic personal organizer. Palmtops turned into Personal Digital Assistant
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...

s (PDAs) with mobile phone functions.

As of 2007, PDA phones are preferred by some, due mainly to wider screens and easier texting plus mobile multimedia functions, such as audio video playback, mobile web and mobile TV. Apple's iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

 made a debut in late June 2007, featuring keypadless touchscreens with multi-touch
Multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...

.

Mobile issues

Mobile technology is evolving fast, and in the 2007 NEXTcomm opening keynote in Chicago, Ed Zander, then CEO of Motorola, noted “Today it’s about fast,affordable broadband Internet. Tomorrow I believe it’s about wireless and broadband media platforms. And we as an industry have to work together, software and platforms, the content players and the carriers, as well as the equipment suppliers like ourselves, to bring this vision of this broadband media platform to a reality.”

At the same NXTcomm conference, Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg
Ivan Seidenberg
Ivan Seidenberg was the Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications. He is also the current Chairman of the Business Roundtable. Effective Aug. 1, Lowell McAdam, currently President and COO of Verizon Communications, will succeed Seidenberg as CEO...

 also proclaimed, “We have barely begun to imagine all the ways that rich graphics, two-way broadband and virtual reality will transform medicine, education and creative industries. This surge in visual, interactive content – delivered to any screen, anytime, anywhere – has changed our industry forever,”

The recall of lithium ion battery for laptops in 2006, and the emerging safety issue concerning portable handheld devices, like iPOD.

Harnessing vehicle traffic

  • Freedom from battery life concerns due to a possible shift to car battery
    Car battery
    An automotive battery is a type of rechargeable battery that supplies electric energy to an automobile. Usually this refers to an SLI battery to power the starter motor, the lights, and the ignition system of a vehicle’s engine...

  • Driving safety associated with driver focus and driver distraction
  • Transition from voice-intensive cellular technology to media-intensive broadband technology
  • Open Access
    Open access
    Open access refers to unrestricted access via the Internet to articles published in scholarly journals, and also increasingly to book chapters or monographs....

    plans adopted for the Federal Communications Commission
    Federal Communications Commission
    The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

    ’s 700 MHz Airwave Auctions held for early 2008 in USA and the subsequent openness of the controversial C Block to be realized by Verizon Wireless, the successful bidder

Academic research

Scientific research and market-based R&D endeavors are focused on harnessing vehicle traffic and wireless connections. MIT embarked on Real Time Rome
Real Time Rome
Real Time Rome is the MIT Senseable City Lab’s contribution to the 2006 Venice Biennale, directed by professor Richard Burdett. The project aggregated data from cell phones , buses and taxis in Rome to better understand urban dynamics in real time...

, a project that is designed to create real-time maps of people moving around a city through mobile phone networks with the aim of beating traffic congestion. "Real Time Rome might also help with the better allocation of transport resources."

UCLA researchers are working on a project to encourage installation of vehicle-to-vehicle mobile computer networks to ensure driving safety and deal with congestions.

Challenges for automakers

Automakers challenges include:
  • how to improve fuel efficiency in keeping with green technology
  • how to enhance driving safety, mainly based on electronic gadgets
  • how to adapt to fast-evolving mobile broadband technology to stay ahead of competition.

Topping the list of dashtop gadgetry issues are MP3 players, video streaming and playback, mega-bit-per-second downloads of multimedia, mobile TV formats, dashtop interfaces either for mobile phones or smartphones, choices of 4G technologies between LTE
3GPP Long Term Evolution
3GPP Long Term Evolution, usually referred to as LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals. It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the capacity and speed using new modulation techniques...

, UMB
UMB
UMB is an abbreviation that has several meanings:* , aka Una Musica Brutal, a UK based DJ-Disc Jockey, co-owner/author of * Marc Bloch University, also known as Université Marc Bloch , a university in France...

 and mobile WiMAX.

Vehicular mobility to lure more BWA equipment and applications

Scope of applications, either on lab benches or in implementation stages, can be summarized as below:
  • Just In Time
    Just In Time
    Just in time is a production strategy that strives to improve a business return on investment by reducing in-process inventory and associated carrying costs. Just-in-time production method is also called the Toyota Production System...

     (JIT) eCommerce on the go
  • mobile banking
  • mobile advertising
  • mobile marketing
  • location-based service
    Location-based service
    A Location-Based Service is an information or entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device....

    s (LBS)
  • mobile ticketing & remote check-in processes for transport hubs, ballparks and expos (Compare with "cellphone use as paperless boarding pass")
  • mass surveillance
    Mass surveillance
    Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire population, or a substantial fraction thereof.Modern governments today commonly perform mass surveillance of their citizens, explaining that they believe that it is necessary to protect them from dangerous groups such as terrorists,...

     at transportation hubs, targeted at both passengers and motorists
  • distance mobile payment
    Mobile Payment
    Mobile financial services, also referred to as mobile money, mobile payment, mobile banking, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device....

     of parking fees, tolls, bills ( in terms of range and real-time sync, it differs from proximity-based mobile payments, such as contacless payment, Near Field Communication
    Near Field Communication
    Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...

     (NFC), smartcards, RFID tags, and online payments like PayPal
    PayPal
    PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....

     and Google Checkout
    Google Checkout
    Google Checkout is an online payment processing service provided by Google aimed at simplifying the process of paying for online purchases. Users store their credit or debit card and shipping information in their Google Account, so that they can purchase at participating stores by clicking an...

     )
  • mobile entertainment, including paid downloading of music, movies, video games and playback functions. Microsoft is showcasing such features in its Windows Mobile for Autmotive.
  • Mobile vehicle-to-vehicle driving safety monitoring

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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