Vol. 26, No. 1◆◆ hansenreport.com February 2013 VW Group and Tough Driver Interface Mercedes Committed Challenges Remain to MOST150 Carmakers are in a fix. The opportu- Consumer Reports is finding similar us- nity to bring numerous new features, ser- ability problems with the Cadillac User vices and sizzling graphics into the cockpit Interface (CUE), which replaces buttons Both Use MOST Ethernet Channel for IP has never been greater. The OEMs are and knobs with a touch screen and flush, Connected-car infotainment systems leaning heavily on user-interface engi- touch-sensitive switches. According to with their ever-increasing audio and video neering, but the state of that art hasn’t ConsumerReports.org, while “the system content require a reliable, scalable, high- taken us nearly far enough. Mistakes made looks extremely impressive in the show- speed data communications network that with the driver interface can be very room with the center dashboard a swath provides sufficient bandwidth and the costly: they can compromise safe driving, of glossy black and chrome accents,” re- ability to seamlessly integrate IP-based and they can confound and frustrate users viewers found the CUE’s controls “frus- applications. For the Volkswagen Group if the controls are not intuitive. trating” and “overly complicated.” and Mercedes the MOST150 high-speed Ford can surely attest to the danger of Ford has addressed reliability problems networking standard is the solution. Audi not getting the user interface right the with software updates and simplified was the world’s first carmaker to employ first time. Not only was its MyFord Touch MyFord Touch. GM is dispatching tech the MOST150 high-speed networking system glitch prone, but it was sharply specialists into the field to teach dealers standard in production in October 2012, criticized by car reviewers as being way how they might train Cadillac customers on the A3. The A3 has an Ethernet chan- too complicated to use. to become more agile CUE users. It’s not nel to all its infotainment system nodes. clear, though, how many customers are Golf and Skoda vehicles are also Best HMI Practices According to Preh going to want to spend more time at the launching with MOST150. Every vehicle dealer than they have to. “If the system ◆ in the Volkswagen Group that employs a Interfaces must be intuitive and self- isn’t intuitive, if you can’t learn it just standard or optional infotainment system explanatory. Customers shouldn’t have to from using it, you have a big problem,” based on the MIB (Modular Infotainment read manuals or require training. asserted Linda Boyle, associate professor of ◆ Baukasten, or platform) will make use of Driver distraction must be minimized. industrial and systems engineering at the MOST150, which runs on a plastic opti- Touch screens aren’t adequate for data University of Washington. “Older people, cal fiber physical medium. input in the car. Touch surfaces must be especially, shouldn’t have to relearn how As announced in 2011, Mercedes is enhanced with haptic feedback and feeling to use the air conditioner. These tech- also fully committed to MOST150. Start- aids so they can be operated while keeping nologies are designed to make things more ing with the S class this year, all Mercedes eyes on the road. The best place for the convenient, easier, safer to use, but are vehicles will get the high-speed network display is near the windshield. The best they really accomplishing that?” Professor with an Ethernet channel. place for manual input is near the center Boyle is presently working on a driver dis- armrest. Manual input devices such as traction project for NHTSA. Why MOST150 Audi’s MMI or BMW’s iDrive controller sup- The J.D. Power and Associates Naviga- MOST150 is a multipurpose network. port this concept. tion Usage and Satisfaction Study released ◆ The same physical layer can be used for Menus should be no more than two in January found that user-interface prob- many different applications. The first gen- or three levels deep. First-level functions lems go well beyond Ford and GM, and eration of the standard, MOST25, had should be clearly defined. A back button is well beyond car reviewers. According to a three different kinds of communications essential. J.D. Power press release, the owners of ◆ channels, noted Stephan Esch, Audi’s Multimodality: Drivers should be cars with embedded navigation systems head of vehicle networking technical de- given multiple paths to functions using a are “frustrated by the complexity of menu velopment. “One is for the control of combination of steering-wheel switches, systems, voice control commands and in- ECUs and other things within the info- center console controls, voice recognition putting destinations. ... Input and selec- tainment system. A second channel we and touchpad interfaces. tion controls accounted for six of the top ◆ could use for packet data, for example for User interfaces should adapt to dif- 10 most frequent problems.” The study is transmitting navigation graphics to the ferent driving situations and different users, based on 20,724 owners who recently pur- instrument cluster. A third channel was from unsophisticated to expert. chased or leased MY 2012 vehicles. Turn to MOST page 2 Turn to HMI, page 3 MOST... Continued from page 1 for synchronous transmissions of multiple Mr. Muyshondt is confident that the known as MOSTnG or Ethernet over audio streams, where you didn’t need any market for MOST150 nodes will blossom copper cable, possibly shielded or coaxial. computing power to transmit the data.” from tens of thousands of nodes in 2013 to Mercedes is also considering replacing its MOST150 has two additional channel tens of millions of nodes per year in the LVDS point-to-point camera connections types: One is an isochronous channel, 2018 to 2020 time frame as MOST25 us- with MOSTnG or Ethernet connectivity. which provides video streaming capability. ers transition to MOST150. Not only In addition to VW and Mercedes, “Now we can transfer video content from does MOST150 provide as much as seven MOST50 users General Motors and any source—TV tuner, DVD player, DVD times more bandwidth than MOST25 Toyota could also migrate to MOST150. changer or Blu-ray player—to the head (about 140 Mbit/s for MOST150 vs. 20 to According to Audi’s Mr. Esch, GM, unit or rear seat entertainment system 23 Mbit/s for MOST25) but MOST150 Hyundai and some other Asian carmakers over the optical ring. We save on cabling leverages the knowledge, tools and pro- have shown a lot of interest in MOST150. and silicon compared to the analog ap- cesses already in use on production lines Audi engineers are already thinking proach,” explained Mr. Esch. and at dealerships. about their next transition, sometime in The other new channel is an Ethernet Audi first launched MOST25 in 2002 the next three or four years, to an even channel for easy interfacing with IP in the A8, and over the next ten years higher bandwidth network. “The IEEE is (Internet Protocol) applications. “We installed the network across the entire working on a Reduced Twisted Pair Giga- have a lot of applications that are Internet Audi product line. Simultaneously, the bit Ethernet (RTPGE) standard,” wrote based where we transfer Internet data, for carmaker began working on a migration Mr. Muyshondt in an email. “I am in- example from a UMTS 3G modem and in strategy to a network that would provide volved with the IEEE. They are just start- the future from an LTE 4G modem,” said more capability and more bandwidth. ing to define the physical characteristics Mathias Halliger, who handles system ar- Audi and Mercedes engineers believe that of the channel before deciding what other chitecture for Audi. MOST150 is the first their transition to MOST150 will be less issues need to be tackled. From the time automotive bus system to seamlessly inte- costly than what BMW is doing with its actual silicon products are available, it grate IP applications, according to Audi. Broadcom BroadR-Reach automotive- will take the car industry several more Henry Muyshondt, senior manager for qualified Ethernet solution. years to get that into a production ve- Microchip Technology and technical liai- Peter Häußermann, director of tele- hicle. By then MOST will already offer a son for the MOST Cooperation, is an ex- matics for Mercedes-Benz, explained why multi-gigabit solution (on the order of pert on MOST technology and has long he favors MOST150 over the BMW ap- three to five gigabits per second). Late been involved with its development and proach. “With MOST we get the full ben- this year or early next year the first deployment. SMSC acquired Oasis Sili- efit of audio and video transmission, and MOSTnG nodes running at these speeds con Systems, one of the founders of the we get an Ethernet channel on top of will be available to carmakers.” ◆ MOST Cooperation, in 2005. Microchip that. Plus, we don’t have to change the Technology acquired SMSC in 2012. Mi- physical layer. Our optical fiber network is crochip Technology provides MOST sili- [electromagnetic] disturbance free. We get con, software and tools to the industry. the [cost] benefit of industrialization © 2013 Paul Hansen Associates, 150 In his informative white paper, “High within our large MOST community. The Pinehurst Road, Portsmouth, NH 03801 Speed Automotive Networking,” Mr. adopters of the automotive Ethernet ap- USA. Telephone: 603-431-5859. Fax: 603- Muyshondt makes the case for MOST150 proach do not have these benefits.” 431-5791. Email: [email protected]. in the context of IP communications: Volkswagen Group carmakers will use All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced in any form without written Most of the traffic in the IT world uses MOST150 throughout their infotainment permission.