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Current ATD positioning practices depend on seat track position, seat track travel range, and design seatback angle to determine appropriate occupant position and orientation for impact testing. In a series of studies conducted at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, driver posture and position data were collected in forty-four vehicles. The seat track reference points currently used to position ATDs (front, center, and rear of the track) were found to be poor predictors of the average seat positions selected by small female, midsize male, and large male drivers. Driver-selected seatback angle was not closely related to design seatback angle, the measure currently used to orient the ATD torso. A new ATD Positioning Model was developed that more accurately represents the seated posture and position of drivers who match the ATD statures.

Aisin AW Co., Ltd. was established in 1969 from Japanese and American investment as a new company specializing in automatic transmission (AT) manufacture. Aiming to reach and overtake the Western advanced technology while "pursuing the essence of the role of ATs within the whole vehicle system", it has since achieved its goal of becoming the world's No. 1 AT manufacturing company. In 1985, Aisin AW established a research and development lab for the development for new products other than ATs. Operating under the motto of creating a single, attractive basic design concept layout while "pursuing the essence of the role of the vehicle within society", this lab developed the world's first voice navigation system (VNS), an innovative, creative product born from our company's exclusive product concept. Aisin AW is now achieving the biggest share of the vehicle navigation system market in Japan

ABS has proven to be a contribution to active safety. The introduction of traction control (TC) in 1986 and even more significantly, the introduction of vehicle dynamics control (VDC) in 1995 have been further milestones in this field. The functionality of these systems (ABS, TC, VDC) is mainly determined by the electronic control unit (ECU). A system supplier who is to provide an ECU-platform concept including a large functionality, while meeting customer specific requirements at an optimized price, needs standardization strategies. This paper describes a standardization concept for an ABS ECU, beginning with the basic ABS HW and SW design and the extension to TC and VDC. It also shows the degree of flexibility, the benefits for the vehicle manufacturer and the possible cost optimization for the system supplier.

Electronics represent an increasing portion of vehicle content as new functions and products are being introduced. As products mature, many factors contribute to the downward cost trend, including reduced component costs, standardization of requirements, increased volume, and design innovation. Offsetting some of these cost reductions are increased functionality, increased complexity, and uniqueness. These factors will be addressed generically as well as specifically through analysis of product examples. Future implications of these factors also will be discussed.

Introduction of an array of new electrical and electronic features into future vehicles is generating vehicle electrical power requirements that exceed the capabilities of today's 14 volt electrical systems. In the near term (5 to 10 years), the existing 14V system will be marginally capable of supporting the expected additional loads with escalating costs for the associated charging system. However, significant increases in vehicle functional content are expected as future requirements to meet longer-term (beyond 10 years) needs in the areas of emission control, fuel economy, safety, and passenger comfort. A higher voltage electrical system will be required to meet these future requirements. This paper explores the functional needs that will mandate a higher voltage system and the benefits derivable from its implementation.

The development of innovative vehicle systems is driven by the demand for improvement in comfort, reduction in fuel consumption, environmental protection and an increase in efficiency. A resultant trend is the substitution of mechanical systems by electrical solutions. A basic requirement is an optimized electrical power supply. During the development of the future electrical power supply, the following changes can be observed: 1) High power components require higher voltages. As a result, multi-voltage electrical power supply systems will appear. 2) Demands for increased availability and reliability require the introduction of state monitoring, redundant paths, components and functions. 3) The relationship between electrical load requirements, deliverable power and fuel consumption, force the introduction of electrical power supply management. These trends will be discussed, and the consequences of a future electrical power supply architecture derived from it.

Innovative electric systems demand a new approach for the distribution of electric energy in passenger cars. This paper describes a very promising solution-the dual voltage power network with an upper voltage level of 42V, and the considerations which led to the selection of this voltage level. Owing to the significant impact on the industry, a common standard is required. Depending on their profile, OEMs will select their own strategies for implementation, either as a base for innovation or to enhance overall system efficiency. This will lead to different approaches and timeframes.

As features in vehicles and their associated loading on the vehicle's power supply increase, the existing 14V power supply system is being pushed to its limits. At some point it will be necessary to provide a complementary higher supply voltage for higher power loads to ensure reliable operation. Industry efforts have been underway to define the next step(s) toward a common architecture. These efforts are currently focused on a dual voltage 14V/42V system with specified voltage limits. A change in the vehicle's power supply voltage and over-voltage specifications have a direct impact on semiconductors. Cost, reliability, available process technology, and packaging are among the areas that are affected. Reducing or eliminating the load dump transient can provide cost reduction, especially for power switching devices. Smart semiconductor switches with integrated diagnostic and protection features provide the potential to replace fuses in the new architecture.

Electronics in cars were implemented by functions, which results in a way of cooperation of OEM and supplier typically named by system-responsibility. Integration of different functions and BUS oriented system structures have changed the way of cooperation dramatically. The total system design, partitioning as well as process flow has to be defined by the car manufacturer and suppliers play the role of fitting their module (hardware and software) in well defined boundaries. The consequences and new ways of understanding and cooperation are summarized in this publication.

The continuously increasing performance of modern automotive microelectronics is leading to ever more complex open and closed-loop control functions. Rigid mechanical connections a broken down and electronics applied to make them controllable. Among the examples are camshaft control, or future systems for variable valve-lift control. In addition, the individual systems in the vehicle, such as engine management, transmission-shift control, and ABSR will be networked with one another. The result is a system alliance which communicates through a car-wide web. The major challenge posed by this development in the future, lies in still being able to reliably control the complexity of the system alliance from the point of view of reliability and safety. This means that the suitable sensor and actuator basis, together with an architecture having fixed configuration rulings and matching development methods, are indispensable.

Electronic systems in vehicles characteristically consist of several distributed electronic control units (ECUs) from different suppliers. This situation hinders the integration of automotive systems and increases the overall costs due to individual solutions coming from each supplier. In order to get rid of these disadvantages, the French-German project OSEK/VDX was founded and is now drawing attention worldwide. OSEK/VDX worked out a respective specification to standardize services and protocols of communication, network management and a real-time operating system. An overview of the current state of OSEK/VDX including specifications and harmonization process with ISO is given. Furthermore a description of the Modistarc project working on methodologies and tools for conformance testing of commercial OSEK/VDX implementations is contained.

ITS (intelligent transport systems) technologies accelerate the development of new vehicle functions using on-board electronic control systems coordinated with roadside facilities. Many kinds of advanced vehicle control systems and advanced information systems will be introduced into the market in the near future. The key technologies of these systems are not only the elemental technology of each mechanism, but also HMI (human machine interface) technology. Without proper HMI, drivers cannot use novel control systems safely, and cannot select suitable information during a drive. Furthermore, as an elemental technology for an on-board computer system, LAN systems with the proper gateway function are required in order to maintain and control various kinds of data, such as vehicle data, driver's condition and roadside information. Fusion of these data will produce new functions for the vehicle.

This paper presents an approach to the design of automotive applications based on the client/server architecture, which has been well established in office automation. The basic client/server model is first discussed in the context of automotive requirements. This new function oriented approach is then compared to the previous, device oriented approach. After the introduction of basic components the communication mechanism is discussed with regard to the fundamental procedures, data representation and protocol implementation. Its usage is then explained by an example. Finally, after presenting the results of this study, there is an outlook to future work as well as to possible collaboration with others partners in order to achieve further standardization.

Over the past years many have been predicting various dramatic changes in the vehicle including automatic route guidance, the office in the vehicle, and the auto PC. There are a number of factors which need to come together before significant momentum can develop toward realizing any of these predictions. This paper enumerates these factors and explores the current state and possible evolution of each. While each of these factors could stall progress, the linchpin is likely to be wireless communication. The current state of wireless and its capabilities going forward are examined in depth.

As the European market for transport infotronics commences its transformation from a collection of very interesting, but restricted, research and development projects into an emerging consumer market, the industry needs to successfully address a number of fundamental issues if it is to fulfil its undoubted and universally recognized potential. Firstly, the industry must recognize that the overwhelming majority of the general public are unmoved by the technology for technology's sake. The true motivation to acquire a sophisticated infotronics system is to gain access to a service, or series of services, that meet a recognized need at a price that represents value for money. In addition to this basic, but fundamentally central principle, within Europe the industry faces a series of unique challenges, which will test the creativity of all those involved in the development of the market.

Car crime alone costs the British motorists £3 billion annually. Also results from a recent Fleet Marketing Survey revealed 32% of British drivers belive that they will become victims of car crime. The same survey also asked if vehicle manufacturers should be doing more to build security into their vehicles. A staggering 91% said yes! Therefore for example, with the technical interface of such regular items as engine motronics communicating with new infotronics - it is a golden opportunity for global manufacturers to link up with new generation engine software lock immobilizers or something equivalent and consider other special security features. Good brand equity on security technology, in my opinion is vital and here to stay! Apart from having satisfied buying customers, security needs to be recognised and approved with the local type approval agencies, insurance industry, police and many government bodies. My paper will address these fundamental issues in more detail.

The information security and integrity issues associated with a mobile multimedia vehicle are examined. Due to the external connectivity of the vehicle, concerns over the integrity of the vehicle operation are raised. On one hand, the problems for the vehicle computer are similar to those encountered in the Internet environment. On the other hand, the absolute safety requirements of operating a vehicle place special constraints on the robustness of the vehicle computer. This paper describes how the architecture of the network vehicle addresses the security and integrity issues by providing physical and software separation between the vehicle control and the multimedia networks.

A broad range of information is being delivered to and used within modern vehicles. Information-based applications are becoming more highly integrated into the automobile. Security services are necessary to provide appropriate protection for this information. Encryption, digital signature, and hash functionalities enable information security services such as confidentiality, authentication, integrity and non-repudiation. However, the consumer of in-vehicle information services will not accept security services that introduce any inconvenience to their activities. This paper will discuss various security service methods and security management systems and propose methods to integrate these services acceptably into vehicle-based applications.

Information networks involving consumers achieve best cost and efficiency with "thin clients", i.e. devices that remain simple and minimal. Cars are "thin clients on wheels": to reduce the cost of entry of information availability in the vehicle, processing intensive software and data will reside off board. With data flowing in and out of the vehicle, information privacy, integrity and authenticity become essential. Java platforms were invented to provide safe networking to a variety of hardware platforms, now extending well beyond the desktop and reaching out consumers all the way to their plastic cards. How can Java Card and other Java technologies provide the combination of security, ubiquity and mobility required by the automotive industry?

Fujitsu Ten has developed a compact frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) millimeter-wave radar with a scanning function. To get the desired performance, weight and compactness, we integrated the transmitting and receiving antennas, and minimized the number of parts by means of monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) and analog IC technology. As a result, we were able to add a high speed scan by means of an actuator. We use a digital signal processor (DSP) and software that can correctly recognize multiple targets. We have successfully evaluated the radar's suitability for adaptive cruise control (ACC) by installing it in a test car. This paper describes the technologies used and the results of the evaluation