Creating Order Out of Digital Media Chaos

These days, many consumers are not content with car radios that simply play audio cassettes and CDs; they want car infotainment systems that can connect to almost any digital media source (such as an MP3 player, a USB flash disk, or a Bluetooth cellphone), understand almost any data format, and work with a variety of DRM schemes. This article describes a componentized software architecture that enables an infotainment system to connect to multiple media sources, organize data to simplify content navigation, and initiate proper data-processing paths. Designed with upgrade-ability in mind, this architecture can support new data sources, such as a next-generation iPod, without a change to the user interface or other software components. It also addresses consumer demands for high reliability, simple operation, and a highly personalized user experience.