Java joins the auto PC war

Automotive Industries, April, 1998 by Norman Martin

Watch out, Bill Gates -- Sun Microsystems wants the Java platform to be the software standard for future vehicles. It's teamed with Delphi, IBM and Netscape to prove that Microsoft Windows is not the only game in town.

It's an unlikely place to start a revolution. Crammed inside a converted sport utility vehicle that's loaded with the latest in electronics, a team of engineers from Delphi Automotive Systems, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Netscape are inventing the vehicle for the 21st century.

It's the Network Vehicle, a rolling collection of existing hardware and software technology that's based on Sun Microsystems' Java technologies and includes wireless communications, global positioning via satellite, head-up displays, voice recognition, microprocessors, Web access and collaboration, and other Internet/intranet features.

While many of these features are available in other auto PC systems, (see AI, Feb. 98, p. 183) the difference here is Java, the so-called "Write Once, Run Anywhere" programming language. To build the Network Vehicle, thousands of lines of Java code were written, and integrated with hardware at an unbelievable pace. "We developed the whole car in about three months," says Patrick Toole Jr., vice president of embedded and production solutions at IBM in Charlotte, N.C.

Clearly, Java advocates are not willing to concede the field to Microsoft, which entered automotive with experimental vehicles and products both at the full Windows version level and the simpler Windows CE level operating system, most often seen on hand-held computers (see AI, Jan. '98, p. 43).

It's a battle already being fiercely waged in the consumer electronics arena.

Microsoft's critics complain bitterly that the company uses its dominant Windows operating system to drive competition out of markets, and the four companies building the Network Vehicle clearly don't want to be cut out of the automotive market

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has noted repeatedly that the $100 billion U.S. software industry is an "open economic opportunity for any entrepreneur in America." Microsofts biggest competitors -- Netscape and Sun Microsystems -- disagree, and have made withering calls for the Justice Dept to go beyond its pending case alleging that the company violated a 1995 antitrust settlement. Scott McNealy, chairman of Sun Microsystems of Palo Alto, Calif., has called Gates "the most dangerous and powerful industrialist of our age."

With that broader battle in the background, the importance of who wins the operating system war inside the vehicle suddenly comes into perspective. The modem vehicle is packed with electronics, and emerging areas of what's been called the Third Frontier -- as in home, office and car -- are quickly opening up.

Here's a look inside the Network Vehicle:

Direct Broadcast Satellite Reception: A Raytheon continuous transfer stub phased-array antenna embedded under the roof panel provides a direct link to the Internet through DirecPC for Web applications. The flat, plastic satellite antenna also allows high-speed download of audio, video and text data, transferring information at 400 kbps, more than 15 times the speed of a standard 28.8k modem.

Network Architecture/Optical Fiber Mobile Media Link: This ultra-high speed, fiber-optic serial data link merges complex in-vehicle electronics into digital system network architecture. Multiple audio, video and control data can be transported across the fiber-optic bus.

Voice Recognition and Speech Synthesis: Thanks to a scaleable engine, IBM shifted a version of its consumer grade "ViaVoice" voice recognition software to an abbreviated version for the concept vehicle. The unit is designed so drivers can verbally request and listen to e-mail messages, locate restaurants or hotels, or even get sports scores.

Java Application Program Interface: The Network Vehicle leverages the capabilities of Java technology and standard Web browsers with special smart interfaces for the vehicles. These interfaces can be accessed via in-vehicle command consoles, or remotely through the Web.

Color Reconfigurable Head-Up and Cluster Displays: An old idea re-emerges with a head-up display that projects vehicle information on the windshield so drivers can view speed, engine status and navigation information without taking their eyes off the road.

Reconfigurable Center Console and Passenger Displays: A touch screen serves as an interface to control almost all of the functions on the Network Vehicle, including the audio system, climate control and cellular phone. It also provides vehicle status information and mobile office functions, as well as the ability to show multiple displays, including entertainment, navigation, office and website information. Passenger displays in the rear open up media opportunities with DirecTV, videos from DVD players, games and the Internet

OTI Command/Control: Object Technology International (OTI), an IBM subsidiary, wrote the command and control application for the Network Vehicle using VisualAge Smalltalk The application runs on the car's main processor and buses. It monitors vehicle status, controls vehicle devices such as cell phone and microphone, supplies driver information via head-up display, manages off-vehicle information flow and controls vehicle software. OTI has also integrated an IBM WorkPad personal digital assistant, which docks on an in-vehicle console.