MOST UPnP integrates consumer electronics into cars
May 13, 2014. The MOST Cooperation has presented the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) standard for use within MOST networks. “While smartphones and other mobile devices are integrated into our daily lives, they are not integrated into our vehicles,” stated Rainer Klos, MOST Cooperation administrator. “MOSTCO now provides an approach that allows the close integration of consumer devices in MOST-based vehicles. Through UPnP, we can offer the potential to extend consumer devices with the seamless controlling capabilities currently experienced with integrated automotive head units.”
The vehicle user interface can be more personalized, and it can keep up with the short lifecycles of consumer electronics. In addition, shared car environments would particularly benefit from user preferences, such as a favorite radio station, stereo presets, or climate-control temperature, stored in personal devices and automatically applied when connecting with the vehicle.
One use case is the exchange of audio data between a media server and a media renderer via the MOST synchronous channel. The connection establishment and the audio stream are managed by a standardized UPnP control point. The communication between the control point and the media server and renderer is transmitted by a gateway via the MOST Ethernet channel. The actual audio streaming is mapped to the MOST synchronous channel. This example consists of one audio/video control point and two controlled devices, a media server, and a media renderer. In the automotive use case, the control point would be a smartphone with UPnP control-point software. The media server and the media renderer would be integrated into in-vehicle devices, such as the head unit or the rear seat entertainment.
MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) is a multimedia networking technology optimized for use in cars and other applications. It enables the transport of high quality of service (QoS) audio and video together with packet data and real-time control over a single transmission medium. MOST can use plastic optical fibers (POF), a coax-based electrical physical layer, and shielded and unshielded twisted pair (STP/UTP) copper wires that meet automotive environmental requirements. Today, MOST is used in over 160 car models as the communication backbone for their information and entertainment equipment.