Telematics -- the marriage of telecommunications and computing -- is changing the way mobile workers operate and interact with their dispatchers. This silent revolution started in the late 1980s, when the global positioning system (GPS) became available as the most precise system for geographical location on earth. First developed with military purposes in mind, GPS has become one of the most useful commercial applications of satellite technology.
The Global Positioning System
GPS is based on 24 satellites orbiting the earth at 11,000 nautical miles high. The first satellite was launched in 1978 and 10 additional development satellites were launched during the 1980s. The 24 production satellites were launched between 1989 and 1994. Each satellite takes 12 hours to make a complete orbit and is equipped with a broadcasting system coupled to a very accurate clock. Any person or vehicle with a GPS receiver can take readings of the signals coming from the GPS satellites.
Five stations around the world monitor the satellites to assure that the satellites are working properly. Two are in the Pacific Ocean (Hawaii and Kwajalein), one is in the Indian Ocean (Diego Garcia), one is in the Atlantic Ocean (Ascension Island), and one is in the United States (Colorado Springs). Colorado Springs also hosts a master ground station.
The operational pattern of the satellite system is designed so that six satellites are usually available for location readings at all times everywhere in the world. Based on signals coming from the satellites, commercial companies have developed mathematical algorithms to provide precise information about the geographical location of the receiver. Working from the signals of three satellites, it is possible to calculate the latitude, longitude, and altitude to within 100 meters. Signals from additional satellites allow for correction procedures that can reduce the error to 1 meter or less.
The time difference, in nanoseconds, that the satellite signals take to reach a receiver allows for the precise position calculations. Manufacturers of GPS receivers have patented their products and procedures that estimate the location of the receiver.
Receivers are about the size of a cellular telephone, and they are getting smaller and smaller even as they incorporate additional functions, as explained below. The biggest advance has been incorporation of transmission capabilities, turning receivers into transceivers. Transceivers/receivers can be handheld or vehicle-installed.
The system of satellites, monitoring stations, and transceivers provides the basis for a revolution. In fact, the mobile industry is by now well aware of location capabilities for people and assets. Automatic vehicle location (AVL) is well known in the industry, but the new possibilities coming from two-way communications capabilities of transceiver are not well known yet.
Real-time two-way communications and interaction based on location information is what is making for the revolution. Products with these capabilities, and the services that work with them, are known as telematics.
Telematics
The incorporation of wireless transmissions capabilities promises to completely change the way that mobile assets are operated. Transceivers can transmit not only voice but also data. Using the same technology and facilities used by cell phones, wireless communications companies can deliver information from transceivers into computerized databases and make the information available to the owners of the telematics-equipped asset.
Wireless communications technology has also been developing to match new needs. Progress has been quicker in Europe than in North America, which has being following a more evolutionary path. Digital technology already is used widely in Europe, while North America has only recently begun incorporating digital technology into wireless communications. The main driver for technological advance in wireless communications is the number of users. Early technologies did not cope with the exponential growth of users, but new technology allows the incorporation of more customers transmitting large amounts of data. Digitalization now has become a necessity for the market.
Servers allow downloading of information to the Internet or to local area networks. Management of servers might require specialized companies to provide services, but some companies might find it advantageous to operate their own servers for wireless communications. A large number of assets and the need for data security might be incentives to use private services. Service providers, whether outsourced or in-house, are at the core of telematics services.
Companies providing telematics services are becoming popular as business booms. However, the market is still unstable, and there are about as many entries of new companies to the market as there are company failures. In addition, the business service model is still under definition.
Telematics service providers integrate the different components needed to serve customers. Service providers sometimes design the telematics control unit (TCU) and the type of applications offered to customers, provide data centers with servers to download information to the Internet, and market services to customers.
In most cases, outside manufacturers build the TCUs, and software developers provide the software offered for customers' applications. In other cases, application service providers, which do not market services directly to customers, provide service through other service providers. Alternatively, other providers develop software and support for companies that operate their own servers. Truck makers are starting to offer telematics services. For example, Volvo Trucks North America, Inc. has been offering Volvo Link in North America since early 2002.
Early applications of telematics came to the market in 1996. These were mostly oriented toward personal vehicles. Emphasis was on safety functions, allowing quick location of vehicles in emergency or threatening situations. More recently, emphasis turned toward information and entertainment -- infotainment -- applications. However, customer acceptance and adoption of products has not followed developers' expectations. In North America, the best example of unfulfilled expectations is provided by Ford Motor Company's discontinuation of Wingcast, which had been a joint venture between Ford and Qualcomm to develop telematics products for Ford's vehicles. Wingcast was supposed to compete with OnStar, the telematics service provider for General Motors. In Europe, the installation of telematics service in high-end vehicles is larger than in North America, but the market is still well behind what was expected when telematics first became available.
On the commercial side, enthusiasm is picking up. AVL, in combination with two-way communications, is opening the avenue for a great number of services.
AVL and Telematics for Commercial Vehicles
Early applications of AVL were capable only of one-way communications. Fleet managers were able to locate vehicles in real time or at preset times during the day, but could not communicate with the vehicle operator. Soon the value of giving instructions in real time (to change orders on deliveries or routings or to add new pick-ups, for example) was recognized. Alternative means of communications, like cell telephones or preset times for telephone calls, were used.
The availability of transceivers has opened a vast array of applications, many of them still under development. Applications range from simple messaging to complex monitoring of various vehicle status functions. Many need a display screen, and some benefit from voice-enabled operation. Most rely on location information provided by the GPS system. Others need special sensors installed on the vehicle, as well as buttons for automated actions. For example, messaging might require a display screen and could include buttons to enable automated responses.
Conclusion
AVL is making a transition to telematics, a more powerful GPS-based tool, improving the efficiency of a mobile workforce using commercial vehicles. For commercial use, telematics focuses more on productivity enhancement than on navigation.
More importantly, applications combining other onboard systems are opening new venues for telecommunications and computing -- telematics -- in the commercial vehicle sphere.
Current applications provide only a peek at the technology's potential. Other applications might still take some years to find their way to profitable development, but the work environment of the mobile labor force is set for major changes.
Frost & Sullivan is currently working on a study of the North American Commercial Vehicle Telematics Market.
