When Max bought his hybrid electric vehicle in 2020, he loved being able to drive back and forth to his business without using a drop of gas. Then came the software updates. One dealership charged for something he thought was supposed to be free. The next was a black hole of never knowing when he would get the vehicle back. The experience halted his plan to buy a second HEV until something better came along.
Fortunately, something better is in the works. ATSC 3.0 broadcast technology would put vehicle software updates on par with cell phones and laptops — fast, seamless and largely unnoticed.
In the meantime, noted Roger Lanctot, “We are at this strange crossroads where not everyone is doing updating the same way.” A former director of global automotive connected mobility at Strategy Analytics who’s been involved in auto telematics since the early 2000s, Lanctot said there are updates via thumb drives, smartphone apps, private cellular networks and of course, dealership visits. None of these methods are ideal, uniform or data efficient.
The technology standards group responsible for ATSC 3.0 has understood its potential for the automotive industry for some time, but OEMs and their tier 1 suppliers are still learning about it, according to broadcast veteran Mark Barrington, who heads up the ATSC’s Automotive Implementation Team (IT8).
“The initial scope of work [of IT8] is building membership and participation and industry awareness,” Barrington said. “We’re raising the profile of what we’re doing. We’re building implementation guides for integration ATSC 3.0 into vehicles and what specs need to be agreed on.”
Software updates are just one of several vehicle applications that require ‘on’ connectivity. Besides crash and service notifications and roadside assistance, carmakers are looking at popular streaming platforms and the type of enhanced navigation capabilities necessary for autonomous driving functions.
“Because of the growing number of vehicle applications, automakers recognize that connectivity is no longer optional,” Lanctot said. “If you have hundreds of millions of lines of code in the car, you need a way to connect to the car and maintain it.”
As a result, vehicle data usage is on the rise, said Chip Goetzinger, a connected-vehicle specialist previously with Nissan and SiriusXM. Vehicle software is becoming dramatically more complex, with as many as 150 electronic control units , or ECUs, in a vehicle, with more and more lines of code on each. ECUs control one or more of the electronic systems in a vehicle, e.g., engine control, powertrain, transmission, brakes, timing, suspension, etc. Each essentially comprises a separate computer system.
“Both software and firmware are being updated more regularly,” Goetzinger said. “The way this works from an OEM standpoint — they must identify all vehicles that need updating, update them and confirm the updates. With a large number of vehicles, they have to carefully coordinate with the [wireless] carrier so as not to overwhelm the network.”
Automakers recognize the growing necessity of automotive connectivity. A few months of free satellite radio no longer cuts the mustard. Toyota, for example, is now providing a free 10-year trial period of its connected safety and service apps on several models. GM will offer eight years of free OnStar starting next year. New Volvos have complementary roadside assistance connectivity for four years, while certified used models come with five years. All are cellular dependent. This leaves customers exposed to the vulnerability of cellular networks, which sputter when congested or fail during weather or other natural events that broadcast technology typically withstands.
This is leading automakers to consider multimodal connectivity combining cellular, satellite, WiFi and C-V2X (vehicle-centric 3GPP), but virtually none of those technologies enable simultaneous mass downloads like ATSC 3.0.
Goetzinger emphasized that ATSC 3.0 would not replace cellular connectivity: “Given pros and cons of different methods, there will need to be several. There’s no backchannel with broadcast. Cellular is data inefficient for downloads but perfect for the backchannel. These are complementary capabilities that can keep costs down.”
Current methods for bringing data into vehicles fall into three categories, Goetzinger said, each with its own strengths and drawbacks:
Built-in connectivity involves the use of telematic control units, or TCUs. These are typically embedded cellular devices either added by the manufacturer or an aftermarket supplier. These provide access to core vehicle data but leave the OEM responsible for the cost of data. They also add to the cost of the vehicle and are subject to bricking when a network sunsets.
Brought in data uses a customer device paired to the vehicle or a WiFi connection. The data cost is covered by the customer or WiFi owner. This keeps the vehicle cost down but also limits access to core systems and data.
Beamed in data via AM/FM, satellite, GPS and eventually ATSC 3.0 TV signals. The upside is ensured data availability, global standards and lower cost. The downside is the one-way nature of the connection.
Even with the one-way limitation, ATSC 3.0 is a unique value proposition for automotive connectivity. In addition to simultaneous, over-the-air updates to hundreds, even thousands of vehicles, it can deliver high-definition audio and video, local and national content, high-resolution map data and more to moving vehicles— also simultaneously. This can bring the cost of vehicle data delivery down to pennies on the dollar.
“Another key advantage of ATSC 3.0 is that the network already exists,” Barrington said. There are thousands of TV stations across the United States transmitting signals that cover nearly all of the country, many of them transitioned or transitioning to ATSC 3.0, a global technology standard also adopted by South Korea, India and Brazil.
Furthermore, an automotive-grade ATSC 3.0 chipset is already available, and because because ATSC 3.0 is being built into TVs by major manufacturers, technology providers are embedding it. Google has integrated ATSC 3.o stacks into Android, Barrington said.
“Those chipsets are being deployed by the millions,” he said. “You’re not starting from a chip that doesn’t exist.”
IT8, the ATSC 3.0 automotive implementation team, is in the process of engaging OEMs and tier 1 suppliers. “There are service models and a conformance regime, so everyone knows it will work,” Barrington said. The group is open to ATSC members and non-member alike.
The information in this article is from a July 25th webinar entitled, “Automotive OTA Software and Services Using the ATSC 3.0 Wireless Network.” For more information, see the ATSC 3.0 Datacasting Webinar Series of white papers at https://www.atsc3advocate.com .
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