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SAE to Sign Memorandum of Understanding With AMIC and CEA

1 March 2000

SAE to Sign Memorandum of Understanding With AMIC and CEA to Develop Its Vehicle Standards

    WARRENDALE, Pa., March 1 -- The Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) International has finalized an agreement with the Automotive
Multimedia Interface Collaboration (AMIC) and the Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA) to develop vehicle standards for the Intelligent
Transportation Data Bus (IDB).
    The agreement is scheduled for signing at SAE 2000 World Congress on
Thursday, March 9, at 2:45 p.m. at the ITS Pavilion, Booth 435, in Cobo
Center.
    Under the terms of the agreement, the three parties will each send two
representatives to a steering committee that will establish goals for the
development of standards.  The steering committee will also provide a forum to
exchange information between groups; provide information on industry and
organization needs; serve as a forum to resolve any differences and assign
responsibilities to each of the organizations.
    IDB is a serial communication bus that creates an open, non-proprietary
standard architecture to allow multiple electronic devices to be installed
easily, cost-effectively and safely in any vehicle.  New IDB devices
plug-and-play, letting car owners just buy and go.  There is no complicated
wiring and no intensive installation time is needed.
    The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) represents more than 600 U.S.
companies involved in the development, manufacturing and distribution of
audio, video, mobile electronics, communications, information technology,
multimedia and accessory products as well as related services that are sold
through consumer channels.
    AMIC is a consortium of five original equipment manufacturers that are
working to develop a set of common specifications for a multi-media interface
to motor vehicle electronic systems in order to accommodate a wide variety of
computer-based electronic devices in the vehicles.