Digital Connectivity Trends for In-vehicle Infotainment Systems 2006-21-0034

In-vehicle infotainment systems have dramatically evolved over the past decade. Their growth has been driven by a range of innovative products ranging from dynamic navigation to digital multimedia units with high-resolution color displays, real-time traffic reports, DVD playback, voice activated telematics solutions, as well as connectivity to a variety of portable consumer devices.

Vehicle network architectures have also evolved to support the connectivity of the increasingly complex system. The implementation of these infotainment network architectures and subsequent topologies vary by OEM, they range from fully distributed optical backbone networks to semi-centralized copper-based solutions. Additionally, upcoming high-end graphic applications will demand a robust connection at speeds well above a gigabit/second, further increasing system complexity.

With global perspective and regional implications in mind, this paper will address current and upcoming infotainment applications, the enabling connectivity architectures and potential solutions, as well as key challenges such as EMC and packaging. Discussion of industry standards and various transmission mediums such as copper, optical, and wireless solutions will also be presented.