As a father in a family that has spent a lot of
time on the road, particularly round-tripping
on Route 80 from Ohio to New Jersey for
just about every holiday, I know from experience
that multimedia in the car can be a lifesaver!
With my three kids at all the various stages growing
from tot to teen, packed in our progressively wired
wagons and minivans, we have definitely made the
most of in-car entertainment.
I’ll never forget the worst traffic delay of my life—
a Thanksgiving eve when the freeway ramps in Ohio
were sheeted with ice, a truck had flipped on a connecting
ramp, and traffic sat idling for close to 10
hours. It was such a long delay, some cars were running
out of gas.
I had two little daughters in their car seats in the
back. Sarah, age three, fell asleep. Anna, just a year
old, listened joyously to a Snow White tape, over and
over and over again.
It was one of those situations where we were lucky
not to know in advance just how long we were going
to be sitting there… nor how many times we’d hear the
evil queen cackle about being “the fairest of them all”
before we were able to start moving again!
Today’s families are even better equipped for long
trips and attendant emergencies, with enough audio/
video material to keep a stranded family amused for
hours. Not only that, the addition of GPS with real-time
traffic data today could give us enough of a heads up
warning to get off the freeway ahead of a backup and
head for a motel or back home before getting stuck in
a line of traffic for 10 hours!
With mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) on the
horizon, the range of data and entertainment options
in the car is going to be even wider. Thank goodness,
then, for MOST—Media Oriented Systems Transport—
the de facto standard for multimedia and infotainment
networking in the automotive industry integrating this
increasingly rich technology. MOST offers an optimized
architecture for the real-time transport of audio, video,
data, and control. It is the backbone of modern infotainment
systems.
We are pleased to partner with the MOST Cooperative
to bring you this special supplement published
inside Electronic Design and Auto Electronics magazines.
It aims to raise visibility and awareness for the
MOST Cooperation and the tools and technology that
designers need to make MOST a reality. These reports
focus on current and planned MOST implementations
and the results and benefits they bring to real-world
auto infotainment design.
We’d like to thank the MOST Cooperation for
partnering with us on this project. I hope the info in this
supplement will prove inspirational as you design the
systems to keep the cars and kids of tomorrow on the
move, no matter the challenges!
