News
Issue #2002 - 09 (March 2002)
(Updated Mar. 6, 2002)

TECHNOLOGY

"Black Magic" to Avoid Traffic Congestion - going beyond Telematics' first wave

Last week at the Embedded Systems exhibition in Germany, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector and Pi Technology demonstrated an object-oriented simulation environment for telematics that is code named Black Magic.

The project uses Motorola's mobileGT platform, which is a Java-compliant architecture targeted for automotive applications. The platform supports applications such as dynamic navigation, wireless connectivity, Internet access, car audio, and multimedia functions in the vehicle.

Black Magic provides an environment for the design and testing of telematics applications where the car, driver, telematics network/server, and communications technology are all in constant contact. While in constant communication with the central network, the vehicle can send information on its location, speed, and direction; while at the same time information is received on the location of other cars, and traffic conditions. This method does not require the expensive infrastructure currently needed to gather this data. Allowing for real-time application testing can help companies reduce costs, increase time to market, and provide higher quality applications to the user.

One example of how this technology could be used is traffic management. If enough vehicles are connected to the server, the software can detect traffic backups and give real-time information (dynamic navigation) on how to avoid it, thus reducing congestion and providing value-added information to many drivers simultaneously. Perhaps this could be the "killer-app" for telematics that both consumers and 
providers have been waiting for?

Mobileinfo Comments & Advisory: Black Magic does have a lot of future potential. At this stage, it is an infrastructure architecture in concept and trial. What Motorola and Pi have demonstrated so far has been done before. Real challenge for them to develop true traffic management capability is to achieve high-performance communication about exact location and then map them to congestion profiles. That is pretty sophisticated. Thee duo may be on the right track, so to speak.

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology architectures.  All trademarks used in this summary are the property of their respective owners.