Michael Eichhorn

A unified Car-IT Communication-Architecture: Design guidelines and prototypical implementation

Our research in the field of communication networks for transportation systems lead to a unified car-IT architecture based on IEEE 802.3 Ethernet. In this paper, we present a prototypical implementation of a real-time gigabit Ethernet switch with the use of a freescale MPC8541e development board and an embedded Linux. We show the communication requirements for use in an automotive scenario and present real-time accurate measurements compared to an off-the-shelf hardware design.

A SOA-based middleware concept for in-vehicle service discovery and device integration

We present a novel middleware approach for in-vehicle service discovery and device integration that is based on the concept of Service-oriented Architectures (SOA). In order to be able to identify a suitable SOA system, we define a series of criteria the SOA platform should fulfill. These criteria take into account the specific requirements of the automotive domain. Based on these criteria we compare nine different SOA standards and show why the Device Profile for Web Services (DPWS) standard is most suitable as the middleware of an in-car infotainment and communication system. Furthermore, we present a prototypical implementation of an in-vehicle network based on the DPWS middleware. Hence, we enable the integration of nomadic devices by providing their functionalities within the network and consequently including their graphical output into the in-vehicle Human Machine Interface (HMI). Due to the system design it is also possible to use nomadic devices as an additional display to present the HMI. Finally, an in-vehicle controller is included into our SOA and therefore available to all other devices within our system.

Content-based hierarchies in DHT-based peer-to-peer systems

Peer-to-peer systems allowing fast and easy search for information shared by the users of a communication network, are considered to have a huge impact on next generation mobile service platforms. To support applications that employ content categories or limit services to certain contexts more efficiently, we describe a hierarchical P2P system in this paper. In particular, our system introduces hierarchies in a DHT-based P2P system to allow topic-based queries. Based on the query statement, which is based on XPath, queries can traverse the hierarchy if the content is not found in one topic-space. Examples illustrate how our concept is used for file sharing and location-aware applications

A unified Car-IT Communication-Architecture: Network switch design guidelines

Rising communication needs in transportation systems due to meshed control circuits and complex sensor technology like lidar, radar and cameras lead to increasing wiring harness and system complexity. To solve this, we made an approach for a unified car-IT communication-architecture based on IEEE 802.3 switched Ethernet for use in the vehicular environment. In this paper, we present the requirements for and realization of the core-network components to enable deterministic communication and the corresponding real-time calculus for system verification.

A flexible in-vehicle HMI architecture based on web technologies

In this paper, we describe a flexible in-vehicle Human-Machine-Interface (HMI) that is based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) enriched by graphical information. Our approach takes advantage of standard web technologies and targets at a solution that can be flexibly deployed in various application scenarios as, e.g., for in-vehicle driver-assistance systems, in-flight entertainment systems or generally spoken, systems which allow multiple persons to interact with an HMI. Furthermore, we consider the integration of consumer electronic devices. The proposed system benefits from its SOA-driven, generic approach and comes along with advantages like platform-independency, scalability, faster time to market and lower price compared to application-specific approaches.

Consensus-based cross-correlation

Cross-correlation is a classical similarity measure with broad applications in multimedia signal processing. While it is robust against uncorrelated noise in the input signals, it is severely affected by systematic disturbances which lead to biased results. To overcome this limitation, we propose in this paper consensus-based cross-correlation (ConCor) to deal with heavily corrupted signal parts that derail regular cross-correlation. ConCor builds upon the widely adopted RANSAC algorithm to reliably identify and eliminate corrupt signal parts at limited additional complexity. Our approach is universal in that it can be combined with existing cross-correlation variants. We apply ConCor in two example applications, namely video synchronization and template matching. Our experimental results demonstrate the improved robustness and accuracy when compared to classical cross-correlation.

Video synchronization using bit rate profiles

We present a novel approach for the temporal synchronization of multiple videos which is based on cross-correlating bit rate profiles. The proposed scheme determines the temporal offset without major restrictions on viewing angles, camera properties and camera motion. We propose two extensions of the basic algorithm which reduce the influence of camera motion and distracting background objects. Additionally, we describe how to optimally combine different bit rate components in order to further improve the reliability of the synchronization scheme. The proposed approach, when combined with the three extensions, leads to a reliable, robust, and frame accurate temporal alignment of videos at remarkably low complexity.

A Distributed Public Key Infrastructure Based on Threshold Cryptography for the HiiMap Next Generation Internet Architecture

In this article, a security extension for the HiiMap Next Generation Internet Architecture is presented. We regard a public key infrastructure which is integrated into the mapping infrastructure of the locator/identifier-split addressing scheme. The security approach is based on Threshold Cryptography which enables a sharing of keys among the mapping servers. Hence, a more trustworthy and fair approach for a Next Generation Internet Architecture as compared to the state of the art approach is fostered. Additionally, we give an evaluation based on IETF AAA recommendations for security-related systems.

A Real-Time Capable Virtualized Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure for Automotive Systems

Embedded information technology (IT) is the dominating enabler for advanced driver assistance systems and for the continued introduction of innovations in automotive products. Today’s Car-IT architecture is characterized by a large number of dedicated function electronic control units (ECUs) with relatively low-performance microcontrollers and a heterogeneous set of low-capacity, automotive-specific communication buses. Over the past decades, the approach to add one ECU per new function has led to a complex, difficult to maintain and costly Car-IT infrastructure (Fig. 14.1).

A realtime streaming architecture for in-car multimedia: Design guidelines and prototypical implementation

In this paper we propose a novel in-car realtime streaming multimedia architecture. This architecture is based on the Ethernet protocol combined with a single audio/video compression format that is valid throughout the car. Audio/video content deviating from the in-car format is transcoded by a central transcoding unit for delivery in the car. In this context, we compare three different transcoding approaches which differ in their design and performance. In the first scheme a cascaded transcoding unit consisting of a full decoder and a full encoder is studied. In the second approach, the transcoder reuses the motion information extracted from the incoming video stream. The motion information is either adopted without modification or serves for the initialization of a low-complexity motion search process in the encoder. The third transcoder investigated in this work reuses both motion information as well as the encoded residual data (DCT coefficients). All three trancoders have been implemented in an in-car communication prototype. We investigate the performance of the three transcoders by means of their complexity and their rate-distortion (RD) performance. From our experimental results we conclude that the transcoder which reuses both motion vectors and DCT coefficients shows the best trade-off between complexity and RD performance.