M2M set to be differentiator for car makers

With M2M, car makers can stay connected with their vehicles and – perhaps more importantly, vehicle owners – long after the cars have been driven away from the showroom. Over the air (OTA) technology provides connectivity between car makers and their vehicles, making it possible to upgrade multiple systems, including electronic control unit (ECU) software, infotainment systems that provide navigation and smartphone connectivity and an ever increasing number of apps and services. Taken together, the various systems in a vehicle contain up to 100million lines of code — which makes the 6.5m lines of code in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner seem like a drop in the proverbial bucket. Software in cars will only continue to grow in amount and complexity and the model which car makers currently use to maintain and upgrade vehicle software isn't scalable. Vehicle owners want to keep current with apps, services and vehicle system upgrades without always having to visit the dealer. Already, vehicle owners update many infotainment applications by accepting software pushed over the air, just like they update applications on their smartphones. But this isn't the case for ECUs, which require either a complete module replacement or module re-flashing. Car makers know that updates must be delivered to vehicle owners in a secure, seamless and transparent fashion, similar to how OTA updates are delivered to mobile phones. Vehicle software updates must be even more reliable, given they are more critical. With OTA technology, car makers will use wireless networks to push software updates to vehicles automatically. The OTA service will need to notify end users of updates as they become available and allow the users to schedule the upgrade process at a convenient time. Large software updates that may take a while to download and install could be scheduled to run overnight while the car is parked in the garage, making use of the home Wi-Fi connection. Smaller updates could be delivered over a mobile connection through a tethered smartphone. In this latter scenario, an update could be interrupted, for instance, if the car travels into a tunnel or beyond the network area. Deployment of OTA software updates is a winning proposition for car makers, dealers and vehicle owners. Car makers could manage the OTA software updates themselves or extend the capability to their dealer networks. Either way, drivers will benefit from receiving up to date software loads, content and apps with fewer trips to the dealer. Service appointments would be limited to mechanical work and could be scheduled automatically according to the vehicle's diagnostic state, which could be transmitted to the dealer. By sharing diagnostic data, vehicle owners would have a better idea of how much they need to pay for repairs in advance of the appointment, with less chance of a shocking repair cost phone call. OTA technology also provides vehicle owners and car makers with the ability to personalise the vehicle. Content pushed by the car marker can be carefully controlled to target the driver's needs, reflect the vehicle's brand and avoid distraction – rather than the unrestricted content found on the internet. OTA software updates will help car makers maintain the customers they care about, engender brand loyalty and provide the best possible customer experience. Tina Jeffrey is automotive product marketing manager with QNX Software Systems.