Archive of the Business Category

Intel intends to acquire Wind River Systems for $11.50 per share or approximately $884 million. Wind River, which develops software for embedded devices, will help Intel develop business in embedded systems and mobile handheld devices. Wind River will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel and continue with its current business model.

Ken Klein, Wind River chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said Wind River will align its software expertise more tightly to Intel‘s platforms.

Airbiquity, known for its wireless connected services solutions in telematics applications, said it now considers itself to be a telematics service provider offering end-to-end connectivity solutions for automotive OEMs, fleet managers and portable navigation device (PND) manufacturers.

At the Telematics Update conference in Novi, Michigan last week, Airbiquity also announced partnerships with Telenor Connexion and TelecityGroup, both related to expansion of Airbiquity‘s business in Europe.

“We saw the clear need to better define our company positioning and make Airbiquity ready for future growth in connected services worldwide,” said president and chief executive officer Kamyar Moinzadeh.

To support its service provider positioning, the firm launched Airbiquity Connected Services, consisting of customized offerings in more than 50 categories, such as Safety & Security, Maintenance & Care, Productivity & Efficiency, Luxury & Convenience, and Entertainment & Fun. Each can be implemented on embedded wireless modules in cars and PND devices or through a user‘s mobile phone via a Bluetooth connection. “Airbiquity is now able to tailor solutions that address every embedded, portable or converged connectivity requirement on a global level,” Moinzadeh said.

Airbiquity‘s partnership with Telenor Connexion enables vehicle connectivity for connected services applications across Europe. Telenor Connexion will provide international wireless GPRS communication services for machine-to-machine and telematics applications to VIAaq, Airbiquity‘s managed data services platform.

The agreement provides an end-to-end subscriber management process that includes the activation, deactivation and monitoring of SIM cards over Telenor‘s GPRS and 3G networks across Europe. Airbiquity‘s VIAaq solution will manage the authentication, billing and provisioning of services between vehicle and server.

“Our agreement with Telenor Connexion will significantly enhance Airbiquity‘s connected services portfolio in Europe,” said Moinzadeh. He added that through the partnership, “Airbiquity can provide unparalleled two-way data transfer to and from vehicles.”

Airbiquity‘s partnership with TelecityGroup, a data center provider, enables Airbiquity to offer VIAaq throughout Europe at the same level available in the U.S. VIAaq will be housed in a secure TelecityGroup facility with remote monitoring and 24/7 on-call resources to deal with alerts and troubleshooting. “Our European automotive, PND, and fleet partners wishing to differentiate their products through connectivity will now be able to do so quickly,” Moinzadeh said.

At the Telematics Detroit 2009 conference, Continental launched AutoLinQ, an open architecture intended to leverage the Android Market Place, as well as other Internet ecosystems, for next-generation in-vehicle infotainment and connectivity applications.

Herbert Halamek, Continental vice president, sales and portfolio, said Continental will work with automakers to create a new business model that includes partnering with third party developers to write and certify applications for the car in much the same way that developers use Android to create applications for mobile devices.

Halamek said drivers and passengers will be able to use the applications to personalize their vehicles by safely downloading information and content from the web to the dash. Continental will work with both OEM customers and application developers to ensure that information brought into the car is integrated in a balanced, thoughtful, secure and safety-minded way.

Continental plans to develop automotive hardware and a software solution, extending tools and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) into the automotive space for third-party developers.

Continental initially plans to focus its efforts on developing a set of core applications that will allow drivers to take the Internet with them anytime, anywhere. Applications are being designed to provide drivers with contextually relevant information to make life easier and better.

Continental cited as one example enabling a car to find friends in a driver‘s personal network, displaying their location, and navigating to them via real-time traffic information.

AutoLinQ will also enable consumers to monitor and control certain vehicle functions from a mobile phone; check the vehicle status, change certain vehicle settings, and customize individual driver preferences from a laptop or home PC.

Mobileye N.V. and Visteon Corporation will jointly develop strategies and technologies to control next-generation smart headlamp systems. The firms plans to feed information from Mobileye camera systems to Visteon headlamp systems in ways that expand the potential of each technology; for example, switching automatically between high and low headlight beams.

The firms said their lighting strategies would be enabled by camera processing abilities that include vehicle detection, on-coming and preceding light source analysis, and range estimations. The technologies define optimal lighting profiles for drivers to maximize viewing ranges under most conceivable conditions.

Mobileye core vision processing capabilities include lane departure warning systems, vehicle detection, high beam assist, and traffic sign recognition. The firm‘s technology has been deployed by automakers including Volvo (S80, XC70, and V70), BMW (5-Series, 6-Series, and 7-Series), and General Motors (Buick Lucerne, and Cadillac DTS and STS). The Visteon system will analyze Mobileye’s data and convert it to useful information for its headlamp systems to add higher levels of intelligence and functionality.

“Adding intelligence to lighting systems fits naturally with the current path of optimizing the high beam usage in the current high beam-assist systems introduced by car makers,” said Dr. Gideon Stein, Mobileye‘s chief scientist.

Dr. Rainer Neumann, Visteon’s director, global business development for lighting, added that “With the additional data that Mobileye can provide, headlight usage can be elevated to a higher functional level, allowing the driver to gain maximum viewing range under most conditions and driving scenarios.”

Sion Power Corporation and BASF SE are collaborating to accelerate the commercialization of Sion Power‘s proprietary lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery technology for the electric vehicle (EV) market and other high-energy applications.

The collaboration is focusing on development of battery materials to improve Li-S battery life, increase the energy density, and thus extend the driving range of EVs beyond what is currently available with alternative rechargeable battery technologies.

ABI Research expects global penetration rates for telematics services in new cars to reach 12% in 2010 and 43% in 2014.

“With GM‘s OnStar and Ford‘s SYNC to be joined by telematics solutions from Toyota and Chrysler launching later this year, the US remains the most competitive (telematics) market,” said ABI Research practice director Dominique Bonte. “At the same time Toyota and GM will expand into the Chinese market, while government regulation in Brazil and the EU will drive uptake in Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe.”

Safety and security features such as emergency calling (eCall), breakdown assistance (bCall) and remote diagnostics remain the most popular, but connected infotainment such as off-board navigation, online local search, concierge services, and Internet access offered by OEMs such as BMW are enjoying increasing interest, according to ABI.

While embedded aftermarket solutions offered by companies such as LoJack and OCTO Telematics remain popular in specific markets for stolen vehicle tracking and PAYD insurance, new affordable portable and converged consumer telematics are bringing features such as geofencing, speed monitoring and basic diagnostics to a wider audience.

ABI Research expects that by offering multiple safety, cost and entertainment benefits to different stakeholders such as governments, car manufacturers and dealers, and end-users, consumer telematics will become a standard automotive feature in developed regions by 2015. However, this evolution will require the removal of barriers such as high cost and long development cycles. Standardization initiatives such as the Next Generation Telematics Protocol (NGTP) and the adoption of open source automotive software development platforms supported by the recently announced GENIVI consortium will help.

Texas Instruments has acquired Luminary Micro, which supplies 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3-based Stellaris microcontrollers. It said Stellaris will allow TI to address mainstream 32-bit MCU markets, including 10/100 Ethernet MAC+PHY, CAN, USB On-The-Go, USB Host/Device, SSI/SPI, UARTs, I2S, and I2C.

“Combining Luminary Micro‘s design experience in Cortex-M3 processors with TI’s expertise in ultra-low power MSP430 MCUs and high-performance C2000 real-time controllers gives TI customers one MCU source for almost any application,” said Brian Crutcher, vice president of TI’s Advanced Embedded Control (AEC) business.

Former Luminary CEO Jim Reinhart will lead TI’s Catalog ARM MCU business and roadmap as part of TI’s AEC organization. The Cortex-M3 microcontroller business will continue to operate from its site in Austin, Texas, which will be known as TI AEC Austin.

ZF and Continental are collaborating to develop and produce hybrid drives for commercial vehicles. ZF will provide the parallel hybrid transmission and Continental will contribute the lithium-ion battery accumulator and system electronics. Production is planned for 2011.

“The parallel hybrid concept can be implemented by utilizing existing vehicle driveline resources,” said Rolf Lutz, Group Executive of the ZF Commercial Vehicle and Special Driveline Technology division.

Continental already uses Li-ion batteries for passenger car volume production applications. The energy-accumulating systems are developed by Continental in Berlin, Germany and by ZF in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Overall plans include five unique hybrid systems. The firms will work on an energy-accumulating system that can be flexibly integrated in different vehicle concepts to provide an output of 60 kilowatts. This system will be integrated in hybrid drives for light trucks used primarily for deliveries within urban areas. The hybrid system is set up to support the combustion engine during vehicle start-up and at lower speeds (boosting). Two energy-accumulating components providing more than 120 kilowatts total are also planned for city bus applications.

ZF prefers a parallel hybrid where the electric motor and the combustion engine can be actuated in parallel via the transmission, and, if needed, separated by a clutch. The flexible design can be installed in both mild and full hybrids, which use the entire range of hybrid functions: the start-stop function, regeneration of braking energy (recuperation), boosting, and electric starting. Vehicles equipped with full hybrid systems can achieve a 30 percent fuel economy improvement.

The system does not require additional installation space. The hybrid variants based on the parallel hybrid concept transmission, can be integrated into the existing driveline of current ZF manual or automatic transmissions. The additional system weight due to wiring, battery, and the cooling system is offset by downsizing the combustion engine, and omitting the 24 V battery and starter.

As the electric motor also acts as a source for additional power consumption during generator operation, the hybrid transmission system can also be used in municipal vehicles. In current applications, the Power Take Off (PTO) unit permanently requires fuel because it is mechanically connected to the combustion engine. The generator and the hybrid battery in the new system allow for the use of electric PTOs that consume fuel only while being operated (power-on-demand).

NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology Corp., both major suppliers of automotive semiconductors, plan to merge in about a year, with NEC the surviving entity. The consolidated company would rank third among semiconductor suppliers.

NEC Electronics separated from NEC Corporation in 2002. Renesas was formed the following year when Hitachi and Mitsubishi merged their semiconductor businesses. NEC and Renesas agreed to explore the possibility of business integration “in light of fierce global competition in the semiconductor market.” The new company will have three major product groups - microcontrollers, system-on-chip products, and discrete products. “In order to address the ongoing challenges of the current economic downturn,” the firms said, NEC and Renesas will each execute structural reform plans, after which they will integrate operations to achieve synergies.

The firms plan to sign an agreement in late July, and to integrate operations next April 1.

Three of the top ten trends in automotive electronics relate to software, according to Paul Hansen, publisher of The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics. Speaking to an audience of engineers at the Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF) 2008, sponsored by Mentor Graphics, Hansen said another three trends reflect the current economic crisis. Two relate to the need to make vehicles that are more energy efficient and produce less CO2.

Listing the trends in reverse order, Hansen said #10 is the growing importance of specialization. “Companies that focus on what they are very good at can at least survive in these very difficult times,” he said, citing software developers KPIT Cummins and Mentor Graphics, and navigation firms Navteq and Garmin as examples.

“As we move into the age of connected cars–connected to each other, to the infrastructure and to the Internet–opportunities abound for companies who will control and manage the flow of data, and companies who can provide the content and driver information services the market will demand,” Hansen said.

Trend #9 is China, where carmakers and suppliers have moved beyond manufacturing joint ventures to establish world-class engineering and R&D facilities, according to Hansen. “From this Chinese crucible, powerful new companies will rise up to take on the world,” he said.

Number 8 on Hansen‘s list is a shift in the automotive industry‘s center of gravity away from Detroit and toward Munich and Toyota City. “The financial struggles of GM, Ford and Chrysler have made those carmakers, and most U.S. suppliers, far less aggressive about new technology,” he said.

‘Wait and see what works‘

“When it comes to creating new industry standards, it‘s the German carmakers, led by BMW, who have become the main drivers of a lot of new automotive electronics, especially software, networking, infotainment and chassis control technologies. Meanwhile, the Japanese carmakers continue to make most of the world‘s most reliable cars. Detroit carmakers seem content with a ‘wait-and-see-what-works‘ attitude, letting the Germans and Japanese shape the industry‘s technological future.”

Hybrids are trend #7, according to Hansen. Electrical and electronics parts account for 20% to 25% of the cost of an average vehicle, he said, but in hybrid vehicles those parts account for 50% of the cost. “Today a hybrid vehicle‘s electrical distribution system costs twice as much as a non-hybrid vehicle‘s. However, he added, “For the next few years, the vast majority of hybrid vehicles will be built by Toyota and Honda, who are not at all open to doing business with Western suppliers, unless it is for parts they cannot source from their affiliated partners.”

Fuel economy trumps safety

“With the urgent call for energy independence from the Middle East and tough mandates to curb CO2 emissions on the way, fuel efficiency has become the global industry‘s development obsession,” according to Hansen. It has eclipsed safety as a priority, and that is trend #6.

“While no carmaker is going to sacrifice safety for the sake of fuel economy, carmakers are far more likely to support engineering programs that yield fuel-economy improvements and CO2 reductions,” Hansen said.

“I worry about what lower fuel costs will do to our industry‘s resolve to make and sell more fuel efficient vehicles,” he added. “The U.S. government should tax gasoline to keep the price high enough to encourage consumers to invest in hybrid and electric vehicles. Those funds could be used to help the U.S. industry develop green technology. Because of higher fuel taxes in Europe, the European automobile industry is higher up the green technology learning curve.”

Trend #5 is Linux. “BMW‘s initiative with Intel, Wind River, and others to create a standard open-source infotainment platform based on the Linux operating system will permanently alter the market,” Hansen said. “Driving the Linux infotainment initiative is what‘s driving the Autosar software architecture standard - the opportunity to significantly reduce the cost and improve the quality of software.

“Instead of relying on vertically integrated suppliers to handle the entire customized infotainment system, carmakers and system integrators will be able to purchase best-in-class software components from a variety of sources, whose applications are designed to fit the standard platform.”

Autosar is trend #4. “It will take at least a decade for Autosar to be implemented in enough vehicles to significantly impact the global market,” Hansen surmises, “but of all the technical standards adopted thus far, none will have as much impact as Autosar. It will significantly lower the cost of systems and improve their quality by letting carmakers reuse proven software in multiple platforms and multiple vehicles.”

He added that with Autosar, software will be sold separately from hardware. “Application software can run in any ECU, wherever it makes sense. That would let carmakers reduce the number of electronic control units (ECUs) in each vehicle, which would lead to reductions in connectors and wiring, along with some other hardware.”

Hansen said carmakers don‘t expect the number of ECUs in each vehicle to decline significantly. “The typical Ford or Chrysler vehicle has from 25 to 35 ECUs while GM vehicles have anywhere from 30 to 40. The new BMW 7 Series, which employs Autosar software in some of its systems, has between 60 and 65 ECUs, about the same number as in the last 7 Series.”

Software is the third most significant trend in automotive electronics, according to Hansen. “Carmakers and suppliers with the best architectures and the best integrated software development tool chains are likely to gain competitive advantage,” he said. “Companies that get software development right will bring new and improved features and functions to market more quickly, with fewer engineers, and they will keep their warranty costs low.”

Electronics content is leveling

Second in significance, according to Hansen, is the fact that electronics content in vehicles is leveling. “According to some carmakers, the percentage of the average non-hybrid vehicle‘s cost devoted to electrical and electronics parts and software is likely to remain at 20% to 25%. As a result, the global market can increase only as a function of growth in the number of vehicles produced each year, plus increases in the average light vehicle retail price.” He said growth in E/E content will also be held in check by rising raw material costs for non-electrical parts, and by the appeal of “super-economical” vehicles like Tata Motors‘ $2,500 Nano. “Smaller vehicles have significantly less electrical and electronics content compared to larger vehicles.”

Not surprisingly, the economic turmoil battering the auto industry is the most significant trend impacting the automotive electronics market. “We have to consider the real possibility that GM or Chrysler might not make it. That would be devastating for the American automotive industry and for the American automotive electronics industry. Already a number of suppliers who are dependent on business with the Detroit Three in North America are in big trouble: slammed with a double whammy of horribly bad sales at a time when money for loans has completely dried up.”

Hansen concluded, “The industry should be forced to take the painful steps that it must to restructure into businesses that are sustainable. Labor, management, shareholders and creditors all must sacrifice. I am optimistic that the American automotive industry will survive this crisis, get its strength and vitality back, and join the fight to take its fair share of the global automotive market.”