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This article describes a case study on firmware device management for automotive systems. More specifically it describes the objectives for the project, the methods used, results and conclusions. Objectives: The objective is to create an ecosystem to ensure updates to firmware are fast, reliable, and secure and fault tolerant. To achieve this goal, the most advanced technologies in telematics were combined to produce an automotive solution, including: (1) Bootloader; (2) Delta File; (3) File Compression; (4) Encryption; (5) Re-Flash; (6) Bluetooth® wireless technology; (7) USB; and (8) Flash File Systems technologies. Methods: A pilot project was developed from a case study to understand the complexity of the firmware update problem as it relates to the automotive industry. More specifically, to comprehend the bottlenecks we needed to overcome and to implement the best possible solution. Design and speed performance of the critical path were evaluated.

A new method to simulate “the FM radio reception on the road” in an open space is proposed. It can provide reliable and objective evaluation of the radio system including a vehicle. It can reduce the cost and time of the driving test on roads. It is based on two technologies. One is a wave-extraction system of incoming waves on the roads and the other the field reconstruction in an open space. For the extraction, 3-D software based on AIC is developed and can estimate the number of waves and the amplitude, phase and polarization of the waves from the field data. The software showed the extraction accuracy of 90% in simulation. This method was applied to the road test, and it was found that the software could extract the waves. And through several tests in the space, the feasibility of the reconstruction of standing wave was confirmed (Maximum-minimum ratio: 18 dB and 22 dB at FM-band for the horizontal and the vertical polarization).

The rapid growth of electronic feature content within the vehicle continues to challenge the automotive industry. Customers want cutting edge consumer electronics features in a vehicle before the features are obsolete. However, automotive manufacturers continue to struggle with introducing new features into vehicles before they become obsolete to the customer. The ability for automotive manufacturers to seamlessly upgrade existing products with new and improved products continues to plague the automotive industry. Vehicles traditionally take 4 plus years to design and manufacture. Automotive manufacturers need to plan consumer electronics features early, but not actually integrate those into the vehicle until late in the design cycle, possibly on the production line. This would help facilitate providing the most recent features.

The rapid growth of vehicle feature content continues to challenge automotive designers. The total vehicle feature content seriously impacts the manufacturing complexity of any single vehicle. Traditional strategies for introducing new features into high-content luxury vehicles before moving the feature into economy vehicles have been undermined by the fast moving consumer electronics field. The challenge for automotive OEM and Tier 1 suppliers is to optimize the vehicle architecture in order to provide more efficient means of introducing features expediently and efficiently. Therefore, any production vehicle's Electrical, Electronic, & Software (EES) architecture must successfully support modular sourcing, modular assembly, global manufacturing schemes, cost and weight issues.

Displays that support complex graphics in driver information (DI) systems allow for the presentation of detailed visual data by employing a range of static (fixed image) and/or dynamic (moving image) design approaches. Such displays are gaining market share across a wide range of mainstream vehicles as the availability and cost of such technologies improves. Although a range of 2D, rendered 3D, and 3D imaging (or stereoscopic) information displays have been demonstrated throughout the automotive industry in recent years, there is limited empirical research examining consumer preference of the respective approaches or their influence on driving related tasks. The vehicle environment is known to be a demanding context for efficiently displaying information to the driver. Research in 3D [1, 2] reveals some of the factors that influence its acceptance and effective use, but there is limited research on the effects of 3D-related design elements when used in a driver-vehicle interface.