The interdisciplinary and structured integration of subsystems
into a functioning whole is at the root of Systems Engineering.
Until recently in the automotive market, much of this has been
specific to an automotive subdomain such as Telematics,
Infotainment, Chassis Control, or Engine Management Systems. In the
realm of Telematics and Connected Vehicles, the recent trend has
been outward from the vehicle, focusing on expanding connectivity
and data sources. Systems Engineering for Telematics now includes
multiple transports spanning PAN, WLAN, and WAN communications, and
beyond that has grown to include entities on the far side of the
network link, including data servers, aggregation portals, and
network security.
Although it was not trivial for Continental to develop the
embedded Telematics connectivity subsystems for products such as
General Motors Corporation/OnStar®, Ford SYNC®, BMW Assist™, and
Mercedes Tele Aid®, consumer and regulatory expectations are
rendering inadequate the artificial boundary of an embedded
connectivity domain for new automotive systems.
For example, reducing vehicle weight is a common approach in the
effort to improve fuel efficiency, and weight targets have been
cascaded down to each subsystem and module. However, for each 100
pound weight reduction for passenger vehicles (and without
corresponding changes to other vehicles or additional safety
technologies), NHTSA and other studies have indicated the effect of
hundreds of additional fatalities per year in the United States.
With both safety goals and US CAFE fuel efficiency goals to meet,
the design and interaction of many previously unrelated subsystems
in the vehicle become key factors, and in particular, the new
interaction between vehicle connectivity subsystems with vehicle
safety and performance subsystems.
For this discussion, we take a systems view of the evolving
field of vehicle connectivity, review the historical trends,
introduce a framework to analyze several human constraints, and use
the framework to identify ideal characteristics in a modern vehicle
system.