Glossary - telematics

Adaptive Cruise Control; the ACC system scans the area ahead of a car for objects - mainly other cars - and applies the brakes automatically if a collision is likely to occur.

Advanced Driver Information Systems; a combination of infrastructure and in-vehicle displays that communicate information to the driver (emergency and general.)

Advanced Traveler Information Systems; vehicle features which assist the driver with planning, perception, analysis and decision-making.

Advanced Traffic Management Systems; an array of institutional, human, hardware, and software components designed to monitor, control, and manage traffic on streets and highways.

Commercial vehicle operations (CVO) technology used to help large vehicles negotiate low or limited clearance objects such as bridges and viaducts.

Used in commercial vehicle operations (CVO), AVC electronically identifies a vehicle's type. This system decreases the amount of time required at border crossings by reducing the amount of paperwork drivers have to process.

Automated Vehicle Location System; a computerized system that tracks the current location of vehicles in a fleet. Used to assist in applications such as dispatching.

American traffic information broadcasting system whose transmissions are received through car radios which automatically interrupt other radio reception and tune to the correct station.

Audio Video Bridging – Ethernet based Streaming protocol used for Video and audio transmission

Advanced Vehicle Control Systems; vehicle systems that automate current functions, such as distance-keeping, lane-changing, ramp merging, etc.

Advanced Vehicle Identification.

Childseat presence orientation detection (CPOD) is a pressure-sensitive foil with integrated antenna and resonators in the childseat to keep the airbag from firing with full capacity if necessary and was developed by Mercedes-Benz.

A computing and telecommunications industry specification that describes how embedded devices such as mobile phones, radios, headsets, and personal digital assistants can easily interconnect with each other and within vehicle devices using a short-range wireless connection.

Childseat Presence Orientation Detection; a system that detects the presence and orientation of a childseat on the front passenger seat. Jointly developed with IEE. Also known as BabySmart.

A technique that calculates the current location of a vehicle by measuring the distance and direction that the vehicle has traveled since leaving a known starting point.

A technique for overcoming GPS position determination errors; GPS receivers are placed at precisely identified control locations to measure the difference between indicated GPS positions versus actual positions.

A differential global positioning system (GPS) land station-based method for improving GPS accuracy or getting around U.S. Department of Defense-imposed selective availability (S/A) encryption.

Any electronic unit that can control either fuel delivery or ignition timing or both. It is usually used to describe a stand-alone, aftermarket computer.

A system of geographic position referencing. Angular measurements of latitude and longitude are projected onto a well-defined reference ellipsoid that approximates the earth's irregular shape.

A transfer file specification for digital roadway and topological map databases. The format includes specifications for database encoding.

Global Positioning System; an array of satellites, deployed and maintained by the U.S. Department of Defense, which can be monitored to triangulate an accurate position on the earth's surface.

On-board display of roadside sign information. The information can be obtained either by short-range transmission from roadside beacons or from on-board data storage. In-vehicle signs are utilized to improve driver effectiveness, especially when driving at night or during inclement weather conditions.

The telematics market is slowly evolving into "infotainment" (information and entertainment) to combine everything from safety and security to routing and entertainment including Internet access and video games. Vehicle manufacturers increasingly offer infotainment systems either as original equipment or optional packages.

Provides integration and functionality in the cockpit module with reduced cost, thanks to a new human-machine interface, impulse-coded steering wheel command, integrated low current switches and smart key.

A broad range of diverse technologies, including information processing, communications, control and electronics, which, when applied to a transportation system, can save time, money and lives.

Intelligent Vehicle Highway System; now referred to as ITS.

A digital streetmap database containing sufficient detail and scope to support driver and vehicle guidance applications.

Passenger Presence Detection; a sensor system that is able to detect the presence of a passenger. Different systems are known as Infrared Scanning Weight Sensing, Capacitive Measurement.

An in-vehicle ATIS device that uses the cellular telephone infrastructure to provide a driver with turn-by-turn route guidance, real-time traffic information, and emergency/roadside assistance capabilities. Developed by Siemens.

The detailed information required for a computer to generate a high-quality driving route between two locations. Information includes geometry, street names, addresses, speed limits, turn restrictions, one-way restrictions, road levels, and roadway connections.

A civilian version of the GPS.

The embedded vehicle control unit that communicates with the automobile controls, GPS satellite, and customer service center to provide telematics features to a driver.

The TMC transmits (on FM subcarriers) digital codes representing standardized traffic information messages to be decoded and displayed (or spoken) in any given language by in-vehicle receiver.

A method of providing route guidance by sequentially delivering upcoming maneuver information to the driver visually and/or audibly as the route is driven.