Allan M. Kirson

RF data communications considerations in advanced driver information systems

Advanced Driver Information Systems (ADIS)P, a subset of Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS), are considered. Some of the communications technologies that may be considered for IVHS/ADIS implementation are described, with an emphasis on wide-area RF data communications. The discussion covers communications between the infrastructure and the vehicle fleet, and not the connections between the roadside equipment and the traffic management center. The steps in designing an RF data system for IVHS/ADIS are reviewed, and design tradeoffs are discussed. >

A compact driver interface for navigation and route guidance

This paper describes a compact driver interface (CDI) for an in-vehicle navigation and route guidance system. The CDI consists of a partially flexible display device, a voice output subsystem, and a driver input device. The display device, which may be mounted in the dashboard or the headliner, is spatially removed from the input device, which is mounted in or near the armrest. Despite its small size, the CDI can comfortably accommodate the features required for route guidance and is easy to operate.

New vehicle data bus architecture and in-vehicle information system evaluation platform for intelligent transportation systems modules

An increasing number of intelligent transportation systems- (ITS-) after-market systems present a set of in-vehicle installation and use problems relatively unique in the history of automobile use. Many automobile manufacturers would like to offer these new state-of-the-art devices to customers, but are hampered by the current design cycle of new cars. While automobile manufacturers are indeed using multiplex buses [the automotive equivalent of a computer local area network (LAN)], problems remain because manufacturers are not converging on a single bus standard. A new dual-bus architecture to address these problems is presented with an in-vehicle information system (IVIS) research platform on which the principles embodied in the ITS data bus architecture can be evaluated. The dual-bus architecture has been embodied in a proposed Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) standard, with support from both automobile and consumer electronics manufacturers. The architecture and a reference model for the interfaces and protocols of the new bus are presented and described. The goals of the ITS data bus are to be inexpensive and easy to install, and to provide for safe and secure functioning. These high-level goals are embodied in the proposed standard. The IVIS development platform comprises a number of personal computers (PCs) linked via ethernet LAN, with a high-end PC serving as the IVIS computer. In this LAN, actual devices can be inserted in place of the original PC that emulated them. This platform will serve as the development and test bed for an ITS data bus conformity test, the SAE standard for which is also being developed.