THE INTERNET OF CARS Edoardo Merli*
WITHIN THE INTERNET OF EVERYTHING The Internet of Everything envisions an optimised confluence of people, things, data and processes, all intelligently connected to and part of the internet. The goal is to achieve human-to-human, human-tomachine and machine-to-machine interactions that enhance all our activities and enrich our lives.
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ince the internet came into being, users have had a strong desire to keep their connections ‘always on’ and to connect a whole gamut of appliances for a broad range of uses. Hence, early on, there were attempts to connect the TV, the refrigerator and, in a clear sign of the apocalypse, even the toaster. Born of this desire came the idea for the smart connected home. Since time at home is a significant portion of our lives, making the home smart and connected made sense. But the home is more than just a place to sleep and serves different functions to different people. Hence, not every function of the home could find itself a good reason to get connected. The car, on the other hand, just might prove to be an even more compelling platform to realise the complete concept of the Internet of Everything. Indeed, within the car, people, things, data and processes can interact seamlessly within their own ecosystem, as well as with other cars and even the external cloud, via the internet.
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The car as a technology hub Today’s car is already packed with electronics and, in fact, has among the highest densities of electronic components of all consumer machines. As a supplier of many of the silicon technologies inside the car, STMicroelectronics already sees it as a technology hub. A plethora of technologies powers the car today and these technologies fall into three domains: safety and security; infotainment and telematics; and powertrain/fuel economy. Apart from the more traditional solutions such as airbags, stability control and anti-lock braking systems, safety and security issues are increasingly addressed by newer technologies such as autonomous breaking, active safety (camera and sensor based) and night vision. Infotainment and telematics are addressed by technologies that enable smart traffic management, positioning and location-based services, car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication and, in the future, perhaps autonomous driving. The powertrain/fuel economy domain is addressed by technologies in engine control,
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