DENSO Vision: Automotive Electronics Technologies
6 March 2000
DENSO Vision: Automotive Electronics Technologies
DETROIT, March 6 The following press release is a speech
by Richard Pearlman, General Manager, ITS Research, DENSO International
America, Inc. at SAE 2000 World Congress:
Before we get into the electronics portion of this speech, I'd like to
turn your attention to the small compass -- one of the most basic of
navigation tools -- that we gave you. We've included it with our media
materials as a small DENSO keepsake -- and as a symbol of just how far we've
come.
It wasn't so long ago that some drivers were mounting compasses on the
dashboards of their cars just to stay pointed in the right direction. Today,
the DENSO Navigation System, recently named the top navigation system by J.D.
Power, leads us directly to our destinations' doorsteps with the use of a
computer, a gyro and a GPS system -- Global Positioning Satellite system --
that employs up to 23 orbiting satellites to triangulate a vehicle's position
and to calculate -- and to continually update -- its route.
On deck: A DVD navigation system that offers a real-time, smart-voice
technology and integrated wireless communications.
Getting from one place to another will never be the same.
Now, to this morning's topic:
DENSO's automotive electronics research and development addresses safety,
environment, comfort and convenience. In addition to our navigation systems,
our Telematics on-board Mayday system reports accurate location to police in
case of an emergency. Our Adaptive Cruise Control System, using laser-radar
sensors in bumpers, automatically maintains a safe distance between vehicles.
An Electronic Toll Collection System offers non-stop, cashless toll
transactions, speeding up driving time and reducing both congestion at toll
booths and gas emissions. No more fumbling for change. You receive a bill in
the mail. Not to mention cleaner air.
We're proud of all of these innovations ... and more. But we didn't
exactly arrive here overnight. DENSO automobile innovations progressed from
mechanical systems in the '50s, to electronic systems in the '60s and '70s, to
digital systems in the 1980s, to the intelligent-network systems of the '90s.
As DENSO technologies progressed, so did our ability to advance from supplying
single components to supplying complete systems.
Our research and development of advanced microcomputer technology enabled
us to implement more complex systems. For example, an ECU's advanced function
was achieved by changing from analog to digital hardware and from simple,
single-function software to large-scale software. We currently are developing
software modules, OS architectures and advanced language capabilities to
improve software reliability and decrease development time.
The future of automotive electronics lies in integration and distributed
processing. In lay terms, it's like a computer network/client system in which
the network shares information and cooperates in processing that information
with various systems. In order to maintain robust and reliable performance
growth in software development, various applications must be generalized. In
order to utilize in-vehicle/out-of-vehicle information effectively, it is
essential that we develop network systems.
The answer is in a common platform application interface and network link,
which would allow for more effective platform software and system development,
as well as customized systems for consumers.
Installation of a network OS, which conforms to the world standard
OSEK/VDX, enables control of the system regardless of location or ECU type. It
furthermore enables transfer of some applications from one ECU application to
another in order to engage the most appropriate network system configuration.
Common platform architecture requires OSEK/VDX compatibility, a standard
API and real time ORB. A standard API -- a non-hardware reliant API -- allows
for software development without hardware concerns. The real-time ORB allows
for reasonable cost, minimum required resource and real-time performance --
essentials for a control system. In application development, common platform
architecture utilizes simulation and emulation freely with model technology.
This allows for conformity of the entire operation on the computer, which
saves development time and improves the quality of software.
This brings us to the end result -- the so-called Infotainment system, or
the vehicle information center. The role of the DENSO Infotainment system is
to enhance safety, convenience and comfort. It manages, among other safety
and comfort systems: the navigation system, the telematics system, climate
control and vehicle diagnostics systems.
The Infotainment system receives and processes both external travel
information -- traffic, weather, detours, for example -- via a DENSO wireless
module from satellites and other communication and information sources ...
and upgraded internal vehicle information -- among others, speed, engine
conditions and interior climate conditions. With wireless integration,
additional external connections can be made with cellular phones. E-mail and
Internet access is thus possible. Bluetooth, which is not displayed here,
will offer additional wireless connectivity and will be added in the future.
In order to maximize the Infotainment potential, the receiving software
and hardware interface must be standardized. In that pursuit, DENSO is
developing with Microsoft the next generation navigation display interface and
advanced voice HMI technology. By utilizing this platform, we can provide
users with simple software installation, navigation output and advanced voice
HMI.
The next step, then, is smart-voice technology. By integrating next
generation voice recognition and advanced voice synthesizing technology, DENSO
can provide smart-voice technology. What you say is what you will get. This
technology, one step above even a state-of-the-art touch-sensitive module
screen, would further improve safety while reducing driver stress.
In summary: A common platform with network-link software and a common API
would benefit the carmaker in development speed, quality and flexibility. It
would benefit the consumer in comfort, convenience and safety. It would
further serve society in general in improved safety and additional benefits to
the environment.
Yes, we have come a long way from a simple compass. And the further we
come into the future, the more of the future we see. Who can know what
innovations -- what wonders -- await? A few years ago, DENSO International
America president Andy Kataoka looked ahead to where we might be in 2100. He
suggested that battery-sized atomic cells might be purchased at the local
discount mart to fuel city driving and that we might travel the freeways in
vehicles powered by magnetic energy made possible by room-temperature
superconductivity. He suggested that a national highway computer system would
navigate your vehicle for you.
Who can really know?
I only know, now, that DENSO is at the technological forefront of this
future -- and that it will be at the forefront of that one, too.
Thank you for your time.
Now, for questions ...