Intellon Corporation Hosts Members of the Heavy Truck Industry for Tractor Trailer Communications Technology Demonstration
28 January 1998
Intellon Corporation Hosts Members of the Heavy Truck Industry for Tractor Trailer Communications Technology Demonstration
OCALA, Fla., Jan. 28 -- At Intellon Corporation's
headquarters on January 21, 1998, members of the heavy truck industry met to
see a demonstration of how to enable reliable tractor trailer communications
without adding a second connector beyond today's standard SAE J560 connector
using Intellon's spread spectrum technology. The driving forces behind this
issue include a mandate by the Federal Government for in-cab warning lights to
monitor the condition of the trailer anti-lock braking system (ABS), and an
additional desire to monitor other tractor trailer systems as the industry
strives to take advantage of communications technologies to reduce operating
costs, improve efficiency, and increase safety.
This development effort is being spearheaded by Freightliner Corporation
and joined by industry leaders Wabash National, Meritor-WABCO, Cummins Engine,
AlliedSignal Truck Brake Systems, Parasoft Computing Solutions, Vansco, Eaton,
Midland-Grau, Dialight, Federal Mogel, Phillips Industries, Qualcomm, and
Thermo King.
The jointly funded million-dollar development effort is known as Power
Line Carrier for Trucks (PLC4TRUCKS) and will culminate in the delivery of
integrated circuits (ICs) to the truck industry in June of 1998 by Intellon
Corporation. The result will be an SAE J1708/J1587 network that operates
seamlessly over the DC power bus instead of its typical twisted pair network.
The industry will benefit from a low-cost, highly reliable, and SAE
J1708/J1587 compatible solution that enables new applications to emerge for
increasing safety, improving efficiency, while reducing overall costs.
In North America, it is estimated that there will be at least 225,000 new
trailers and 150,000 new heavy tractors produced in 2001 when the Federal
mandate takes effect. Intellon's ICs will provide a solution that also meets
the requirement that any new communications technique be compatible with
tractors and trailers manufactured prior to 2001.
Intellon Corporation's Spread Spectrum Carrier(TM) (SSC) technology was
demonstrated to management and engineering professionals representing
twenty-one companies and organizations as the communication solution using the
tractor's and trailer's existing wiring and connectors. Intellon is in a
position to apply its advanced "no new wires" signaling technology, low-cost
silicon, and system expertise to produce a low-cost integrated circuit for
spread spectrum power line carrier communications that emulates a 9600-baud
RS485 transceiver.
"This development effort is the result of leveraging our existing areas of
competence to engage new markets with 'no new wires' communications
technology," said Horst G. Sandfort, President and CEO of Intellon
Corporation. "This represents a major effort by players in the heavy truck
industry to solve Federally legislated challenges," stated Paul M. Menig,
Director Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Freightliner Corporation. "The
PLC4TRUCKS technology provides a highly reliable, low cost, scalable solution
to meet the Federal ABS monitoring mandate and future communications
requirements."
Intellon Corporation is a leading supplier of low-cost communication
solutions for networking with "no new wires." Intellon provides
high-performance digital, mixed-signal and RF systems on silicon to original
equipment manufacturers worldwide. Intellon's intellectual property,
products, technologies and services are key to a variety of open industry
standards and fast-growing markets including commercial, utility, industrial,
transportation and consumer electronics. Intellon's power line carrier and
radio frequency technologies extend the reach of the Internet to individual
products without adding new wires. Founded in 1989, Intellon is a privately-
held company based in Ocala, Florida, with offices in San Jose, California,
operates as a fabless semiconductor company to develop, manufacture and
distribute IC products and modules that are supported by complete reference
design information, development and evaluation tools. More information can be
obtained about Intellon via their World Wide Web site:
http://www.intellon.com.
Spread Spectrum Carrier and SSC are registered trademarks of Intellon
Corporation.
SOURCE Intellon Corporation