Sun partners with Ford Research to design Internet Services vehicle

Ford’s research arm has been collaborating with Sun Microsystems to design and develop an Internet- and Web Services-based ‘Vehicle Consumer Services Interface’ for future in-car services. The new architecture will allow Ford and its partners to add multiple devices and services, like mobiles, pagers and PDAs, now and in the future to vehicle designs without the costs and time involved in re-coding legacy or internal vehicle systems. The pair say that in the future car buyers will be able to continuously access information services tailored to their needs, preferences and locations. They would include: real-time weather and traffic reports; information relevant to scheduled meetings; and personalised restaurant information – all with hands-off, heads-up presentation. For Ford, the concept of integrating new services and devices into legacy vehicles at minimal cost will provide at least a temporary competitive edge. Creating a three- to four-year engineering lifecycle for vehicles for longer impact integration of new technologies into the vehicle environment will mean significant savings while maintaining customer appeal. “This is a world-class solution that brings the best of Sun to bear for Ford. The quality, flexibility and openness of this solution is providing Ford with a potential competitive advantage,” says Dan Hushon, director of strategy for Sun Services consulting group, and was instrumental in the design of this architecture. “Our ability to develop a solution that meets our customer’s goals is critical, and this demonstrates that we have the knowledge and technology to do just that, regardless of the challenge.” The system is based on XML content delivery that allows integration and connection with multiple services and devices, regardless of platform and language. Consultants from Sun Services helped Ford with the architecture, which harnesses open standards and is powered by Sun’s Jini and Java. The Sun Open Net Environment (Sun One) Studio 4Mobile Edition was also used to facilitate the development.