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Demanding CO2 and fuel economy regulations are continuing to pressure the automotive industry into considering innovative powertrain and vehicle-level solutions. Powertrain engineers continue to minimize engine internal friction and transmission parasitic losses with the aim of reducing overall vehicle fuel consumption. Strip friction methods are used to determine and isolate components in engines and transmissions with the highest contribution to friction losses. However, there is relatively little focus on friction optimization of Front-End-Accessory-Drive (FEAD) components such as alternators and Air Conditioning (AC) compressors. This paper expands on the work performed by other researchers’ specifically targeting in-depth understanding of system design and operating strategy.

Environmental noises such as wind, road, powertrain, and HVAC noise are important aspects to consider when implementing a hands-free terminal for mobile phone calling from within a car. Traditionally, these environmental noises have been exclusively considered for driver comfort; however, with the introduction of the hands-free terminals (HFT) and increasing consumer demand relative to mobile phone call quality, a broader implication of high background noise levels should be considered. HFT algorithm development and implementation can and does provide a high level of background noise suppression to mitigate these concerns, but this is often done at the expense of computational power and cumulative delay during a phone call. The more advantageous solution would be to address the problem from a source and path perspective with emphasis on reduction of noise in the frequency bands which most influence call quality performance.