Bosch to focus on cloud for connected car services
While Bosch already has a number of services for the connected car in its catalogues, the company never really took stand on such services; instead it preferred to act as a development partner for its customers, providing custom solutions with no Bosch brand sign on them. Examples are enhanced eCall services and personalised concierge services available from several carmakers but not with great Bosch fanfare.
Now the company deviated from this strategy, albeit just a little bit, by announcing that it will intensify its development services. Like competitor Continental, Bosch will link its “electronic horizon” (the directly competitor technology to Continental’s eHorizon) to the cloud and offer real-time services providing data as to road conditions, weather or traffic situation. The latter is particularly valuable to drivers of electric cars since it enables the vehicle to optimise its charging management. Bosch plans to enhance these services by offering infrastructure data such as the topology of multi-storey car parks or the exact location of charging points for electric vehicles. To make these services available, the company does not rule out to establish their own cloud infrastructure, but “no decision as to the exact type and extent of such services has been taken yet”, a Bosch spokesperson said.
Unlike other vendors, Bosch offers two distinct platforms to connect the vehicle to the cloud. There is, first, the company’s MySpin integration solution that utilises the driver’s smartphone as connecting item. MySpin supports Apple’s iOS as well as the open world of Android and allows selected smartphone apps to run on the car’s head unit. MySpin is already in series production in several Jaguar and Land Rover models. In addition, Bosch has contracts in place with two albeit unnamed OEMs as well as a cooperation with Chinese Internet data service provider Tencent.
The other approach to establish the link between the car and the cyberspace is Bosch’s Connectivity Control Unit (CCU), a piece of hardware that contains a mobile radio module and thus requires a SIM card. According to the spokesperson, the CCU can also be integrated into a car’s head unit. However, in certain cases the cars will possibly be connected with the outside world also through the eCall unit which will be mandatory in Europe for new cars from 2018. This unit also requires a SIM card and thus will provide an independent mobile radio channel. According to Bosch, it also will be possible to blend the functionality of the eCall unit and the CCU in one box. “It all depends on the OEM and his requirements,” the spokesperson said.
Bosch plans to equip not only cars with internet connectivity, but also motorbikes and bicycles.
Notably absent at all connectivity-related announcements in the past time, from Bosch or from other tier ones, was one technology, that originally has been created for the very purpose of connecting cars to each other: V2X, also called Car2X. Based on the IEEE 802.11p protocol, a modified version of the ubiquitous WiFi technology, this technology was meant to offer the low-latency connectivity between cars needed to implement safety-critical applications such as black ice warning. All recent announcements are utilising 4G mobile technology. “4G and even more so 5G bring the latency into the range of single-digit milliseconds”, the Bosch spokesperson said. “This is good enough for most safety applications.” In addition, cellular radio technology is ubiquitous today, solving the chicken-and-egg problem associated to 802.11p.
Related articles:
Continental breathes road maps live
Electronic control system partitioning in the autonomous vehicle
Bosch bets on synergies between electromobility and connectivity
Standardisation of vehicle data makes progress
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