Open Systems and Open Mindsets: Entertainment, Information and Communication Systems for the Automotive Future

This paper and presentation will describe how one company is addressing the convergence of entertainment, information and communications for tomorrow's automobiles. The approach presents a framework for incorporating diverse technologies in cost-effective and efficient ways to provide for both flexibility and future growth. It offers a paradigm for integrating best-in- class technologies from third parties into multimedia systems that meet fast- changing customer demands.

The approach recognizes that automotive customers' expectations for features and functions are increasingly driven by computing and telecommunications capabilities that they experience outside of their cars. Future in-vehicle multimedia systems will be based on combinations of leading edge technologies involving computers, cellular or satellite communications, car radio and car navigation product technologies.

The paper proposes an open systems approach to multimedia systems that enables automotive suppliers, their customers, the OEMs, and ultimately the end customer to tailor their systems to meet their requirements for any combination of entertainment, information, and/or communications capabilities.