Can you hear me now?

The fact that any new technology, wireless for instance, takes a couple of years to implement in automotive applications allows for that technology to mature, giving greater reliability and robustness in a product that consumers demand much from, given the vehicle's big ticket price compared with everyday purchases.

While technological maturity is desirable, the same product cycle disparity means it is difficult for automotive electronics developers to chart the road ahead. Consumer preferences and demands fashioned by personal electronics technology choices, or the technologies themselves, are not always easy to predict. So designers have to come up with systems that are flexible enough to allow the car to accommodate as many developments as possible down the road.

Mandates and Bluetooth
In addition to consumer market pressures, automotive electronics developments are heavily influenced by safety legislation and regulations. A driving force in automotive wireless today is the set of laws passed by more than half the U.S. states requiring hands-free cell phone use. (Europe is ahead of the curve in this regard, in that most EU nations mandate hands-free calling from cars.)

The availability of Bluetooth wireless technology, which was developed in the consumer arena, has thus spurred its adoption by automotive developers as the key enabler today in providing wireless communication between consumer cell phones and infotainment systems in cars. But going about this integration requires attention to detail.

Bluetooth cell phones are integrated into cars today with aftermarket hands-free kits or by means of systems developed as original equipment on later-model vehicles. While the aftermarket kits allow owners of current cars to update them for Bluetooth-equipped phones, developers are in agreement that, for connection with either type of system, software quality is vital. System algorithms also perform acoustic echo cancellation, noise reduction and voice recognition.