The growing adoption of smartphones is creating huge demand for connected car telematics systems, says ABI Research.
Key technologies used in car telematics systems include cellular technologies like 4G LTE and in-car technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0, 5G Wi-Fi, NFC as well as wired and wireless networking technologies such as Ethernet and 802.11ad (WiGig).
According to ABI Research, revenues from main processors shipped in OEM-installed connected car telematics systems will increase from around $360 million at the end of 2012 to $1.6 billion globally by the end of 2020.
Next-generation infotainment systems will come equipped with advanced navigation systems and highly responsive Human-Machine-Interfaces, the research said. This will require fast processors that need excellent graphic capabilities to quickly render real-time directions and traffic conditions in 3D.
Silicon providers are developing scalable processor products that will meet the requirements of next-generation M2M communications. Many of these will have dedicated graphics processing units (GPUs) to deal with the increasing demands of infotainment systems and automotive clusters.
Connectivity is another area which is expected to show tremendous growth in the automotive electronics segment. It is expected to expand significantly during the next few years and will trigger further incremental semiconductor usage in vehicles.
Among the key technologies, 4G LTE stand out as it enables low-latency, data-intensive infotainment applications such as real-time navigation services (for example, Google Earth), real-time traffic updates and video streaming applications.
Similarly Bluetooth Low Energy will offer many benefits including low-power consumption, lower cost, enhanced range and interoperability. It will enable more personalization of the car and in-car infotainment system, as well as enable the introduction on many new and novel applications.
