Telematics Talking

You've probably heard the radio commercial for OnStar in which a distraught driver tells a dispatcher that she's locked herself out of her car. No problem, replies the dispatcher, who uses satellite tracking to locate the vehicle and sends a control command over the wireless network to unlock the vehicle's doors remotely. All is well in the land of telematics.

The scenario played out in this advertisement is appealing, but is it an appropriate model for a technology that attempts to appeal to the masses? Hardly. The simple fact is that, as described, this operation doesn't scale. Won't ever scale. A human dispatcher stands in the middle of the communication between the vehicle and the driver. To unlock her car, he must read a web-page map with latitude and longitude coordinates converted to street addresses, then manually generate a control command, all while communicating intensively with a harried driver.

In a more interesting -- and scalable -- scenario the owner of a car with a fully automated telematics system uses her cell phone to call a number that connects her to an application service provider (ASP). There, a voice user interface (VUI) asks the driver to select an operation from a menu: "Press or say 1 to sound the horn and flash the lights. Press or say 2 to track the vehicle's location. Press or say 3 to unlock the vehicle doors."

In this scenario, the driver presses 3 on her cell phone's keypad, and the telematics ASP receives the request across the wireless network. A company server in a network operations center issues a wireless control command to a transceiver in her vehicle, which maps the command sent across the network to an electrical signal that unlocks the doors. In moments, the user is on her way. All this happens without the slightest human intervention, in a software-driven, scalable manner.

That fully automated system exemplifies the vision of telematics that I want this article to convey. Because telematics and location-based services (LBS) are complementary technologies, the article also focuses on the role LBS plays in the growth of a more robust telematics marketplace.

Telematics, defined in this article as the ability of remote servers and software to receive notifications from and send control commands to devices installed in vehicles, is implemented through a variety of location-based technologies:

GPS Satellite Tracking
Originally devised by the military and subsequently made available to the public, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a worldwide radio-navigation system formed from a constellation of 24 satellites and their ground stations. GPS uses these satellites as reference points to calculate positions in three dimensions: latitude, longitude, and altitude. Positions are accurate to a few dozen meters in non-military implementations, to a few centimeters in military applications.

Telematics systems combine GPS modules with radio transceivers in compact devices that are usually installed underneath vehicle dashboards and positioned to "see sky." One weakness of GPS is that tracking information may not be available to vehicles inside parking garages or shielded by tall buildings.
Base Station Triangulation
Also referred to as assisted GPS (AGPS), base station triangulation relies on measurements of time differences across wireless networks. AGPS uses cell ID detection to approximate a device's position based on the coordinates of the base station it's currently using. Accuracy depends on network infrastructure, primarily the density of base station placements. Density is typically much greater in urban areas, where GPS systems encounter screening problems. For this reason, AGPS and GPS are often used in conjunction, to provide blanket coverage for vehicles whether they're in the city or on the road.
Bluetooth Short-Range Tracking
New to the telematics scene, but with interesting potential, Bluetooth could be used where AGPS and GPS are inaccessible, say, inside large parking garages. Providers could arrange Bluetooth devices at fixed locations inside buildings and configure them to "know" their relative locations. They could then act as beacons for Bluetooth-equipped mobile devices, providing vehicles "last mile" location information.

Wi-Fi technology also holds out promise for short-range detection but is more cumbersome than Bluetooth, requiring TCP/IP socket connectivity to the Internet.

For more information on cellular network technology, see the articles "Making Sense of Cellular" and "SMS -- Short But Sweet" on this web site.

You've already seen that telematics is a combination of telecommunications and network computing -- in other words, information services delivered to a remote in-vehicle device over a wireless communications network -- but what specific services are provided? Most telematics applications provide services in three functional areas: controls, notifications, and tracking.

Controls
Controls allow users to send remote commands to their vehicles, typically through a cell phone or web interface, to control various vehicle functions. Examples include remotely locking and unlocking doors, and flashing lights to enable a user to find a vehicle in a crowded parking facility. A typical use case is our scenario of a driver locked out of her car, using her cellphone to request that a telematics ASP send a command to unlock the doors.
Notification
Notifications are events generated by the in-vehicle device to inform users by phone or email of physical activities related to their vehicles. Notifications are triggered by alarm events, such as a theft, or generated in response to control commands or test simulations.

A telematics device typically generates a vehicle-stolen notification when a geo-fence is breached. A geo-fence is a virtual perimeter the user establishes around the vehicle, using a web-based interface. Suppose the user constructs a geo-fence with a radius of 500 yards around a vehicle. As long as the vehicle remains inside this perimeter, no notification events are generated. Moving the vehicle outside the perimeter triggers an event, and the system notifies the user of the breach, through a web site or through the user's cell phone and the ASP's voice interface. The user can then track the vehicle's whereabouts over the web.

Over-speed notifications are another common use of telematics technology. A user -- typically a concerned parent -- may use a web interface at home or in the office to configure a device to send an email or cell phone notice whenever, for example, the vehicle's speed exceeds 80 mph.

A couple of years ago, Scott McNealy made a remark to a group of analysts along the following lines: "One day in the near future, I may be in Tokyo on business and receive a page on my cell phone informing me my son has just exceeded the speed limit driving south on 101 in Palo Alto." That day has arrived. For teens everywhere, "The Fast and the Furious" may soon be pure nostalgia.
Tracking
Tracking is a mapping function that automatically determines the position of a user's vehicle and displays it on a web map. Through GPS and AGPS, cars transmit location information to an ASP, where server software translates GPS coordinates into street addresses -- an activity know as reverse geo-coding. A powerful central server performs heavyweight map processing that uses up-to-the-minute data to put these addresses into geographical context.

Telematics users can then use a web browser to see vehicle tracking details displayed in real time. The browser displays a map and represents the position of the vehicle as an icon, such as a small blue triangle.

This activity, ideal for fleet-tracking organizations, is also useful to drivers who want a history of their vehicle's location. As with the over-speed notification mentioned earlier, however, this technology has social implications.

It's not far-fetched, for example, to imagine a jealous husband or wife poring over this data to track a spouse's nocturnal activities. A car equipped with a telematics device provides clues to its driver's whereabouts.

In addition to the services already described, here are a few more common telematics applications, all of which depend in one form or another on notification, control, and tracking activities.

Remote Vehicle Diagnostics
A telematics system can send diagnostic information across the web from your car to your mechanic, who can use the data to analyze performance, spot weaknesses, and improve reliability.
Safety and Security
In-vehicle devices act as automatic crash-data recorders, registering deployment of airbags, for example, and delivering real-time crash information across the web. This could be used by emergency services, to enable rescue workers to pinpoint the location of a call to 911.
Traffic and Routing Information
Telematics is a delivery platform for real-time vehicle or pedestrian navigation aids, including interactive routing, with turn-by-turn directions, and connections to navigation and mapping systems. To improve routing and travel decisions, central servers can give drivers up-to-the-minute answers to questions like: Which route is the fastest? Is there a traffic jam ahead? What is my best available alternate route?
Fleet Tracking
One of the most immediate and promising areas of telematics interest is fleet tracking. Major suppliers to this market include @Road, which is the largest US supplier in this segment of the telematics industry, with an installed base of more than 100,000 units. Teletrac, next in line, has an installed base of 60,000 vehicles. Some use GPS and cellular technology; some use the proprietary Teletrac network for location and messaging.

Roughly two thirds of US fleets use cellular phones, and many fleet owners consider telematics services to be a natural extension of cellular services.

Scalable telematics applications have arrived, but the industry is still in its infancy. Important issues that will affect the future of telematics include:

Pricing
Some telematics devices are included by the manufacturer in the retail price of a car; OnStar, for example. Others are purchased from after-market suppliers like the Good Guys; Directed Electronics is an example.

Currently, after-market telematics devices sell for around $750, including installation. Some opinions in the industry hold that prices must drop below $400 to appeal to a mass market.

Subscription rates vary between $10 and $30 per month, depending on device capabilities and use.
Hardware Installation in the After-Market
If there's one weak link in the telematics after-market supply chain, it's the hardware installer who actually equips your vehicle with a telematics device. Installation turns out to be an iffy proposition -- one fraught with the perils of installers insufficiently trained in the nuances of GPS technology.

Historically, inferior installation has been a major stumbling block in getting telematics off the ground. This problem may be remedied, however, as more companies like Directed Electronics come onto the scene. Directed has a proven track record selling vehicle security products whose installers have significant experience. Basic procedures such as GPS antenna placement and testing of web and voice interfaces may prove less challenging to installers already familiar with sophisticated alarm systems.
Privacy and Liability
There are two twists to the privacy issue, one technical, the other social.

On the technical side, the industry uses digital rights management, encryption, and electronic certificates to protect the confidentiality and the integrity of the data sent across wireless networks.

On the social side, individuals are concerned that tracking information and over-speed notifications, to name just a couple of examples, may at some point be used against them -- possibly in a court of law. Consequently, the user's ability to maintain control over the use to which telematics information is put is crucial to consumer confidence.

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