Global viewpoints: technology leads the way
Johnson Controls smiling about Bluetooth future
 Jim Geschke, JCI Vice President and General Manager of Electronics Integration. |
Bluetooth communications technology is about to take off, and Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) is riding first-class. Bluetooth is an open communications standard at 2.4 GHz radio frequency. Bluetooth-enabled electronic devices can communicate over a distance of 10 m (30 ft)—in the next generation, over a distance of 30 m (90 ft), according to JCI.
JCI's initial application is called BlueConnect, which will consist of Bluetooth-enabled (e.g., having a Bluetooth microchip) cell phone and a speaker-microphone set incorporated into the interior. Users will be able to place calls by pushing a button in the visor or some other interior location and announcing the name or phone number of the person to be called. The number is dialed automatically. Under this scenario, vehicle owners can use their own cell phone rather than buy the one offered with, and dedicated to, the vehicle. The speaker-microphone set can be incorporated easily into a visor, most of which already have power and ground for the vanity light.
A phone wirelessly tethered to the vehicle, said Jim Geschke, JCI Vice President and General Manager of Electronics Integration, "has very strong interest in the marketplace, but that's just the start."
Geschke says BlueConnect will do away with the need for a "telematics brick," or hardware, incorporated into the vehicle. Instead, the cell phone (not provided by JCI) becomes the telematics brick. Upgrading a cell phone is a much simpler matter than upgrading a vehicle-based telematics brick, according to Geschke.
 Full cockpit modules for the Pontiac Aztec are assembled and delivered in sequence by JCI. |
Another advantage is that cell phone users can sign up for various "voice portal" information services independent of the vehicle. Many of these services already are being offered free, Geschke said, so users will be able to avoid the cost of a vehicle-based cell phone as well as the OEM-based concierge/emergency services that are offered, for a fee, with the phone.
JCI's BlueConnect is not yet on the market, but the company is actively seeking customers.
A more immediate technology with potentially big payoffs is rear-seat entertainment. JCI is one of a number of companies having launched entertainment units consisting of elements such as videotape players, displays, and headphones. Now it is launching entertainment units based on DVD technology, to be followed by removable DVD units that can be used in the home as well as in the car. Geschke said the company's DVD business in North America is strong and that it's starting to take root in Europe.
A product that has seen plenty of success for JCI is HomeLink. More than 120 vehicle models offer the HomeLink system as standard or optional equipment this year, according to JCI. It is fitted to about 10 million units total. HomeLink is a three-button transceiver permanently mounted on the sun visor, overhead console, or mirror that enables vehicle operators to activate a garage door opener, home security system, etc.
 Engineers use a rotating, 360° turntable to measure the RF signal at 36 points around the vehicle. |
Geschke considers HomeLink a good example of JCI technology leadership in product innovation. "Nobody asked for HomeLink, and the customer makes more money on it than we do," he said. Through HomeLink's transceiver, JCI can now offer tire pressure monitoring and remote keyless entry options.
Seamlessly integrating electronics and interior trim is the company's main focus, according to Geschke. The result for customers and end users is "better packaging, better ergonomics, and better aesthetics," he said. "It's what differentiates us." Geschke is in charge of the integration effort at JCI and recently was awarded a patent that would allow JCI to use voice technology to provide compass heading information to the driver.
Another hot electronics integration technology being pursued by JCI is what Geschke calls I-seating. Today, he explained, a memory seat has a switch and a controller "that's large and bulky" and operates a number of motors. The controller has two elements: logic and relays. "We're cutting that in half by incorporating logic into the switch and incorporating relays into the motors, which have a little 'smarts.'"
Electronics integration, display systems, and RF are JCI's areas of greatest technology expertise, according to Geschke. But while it forges ahead in offering in-vehicle comfort and convenience features, the company is paying close attention to how those features affect driver attention. "We think a lot of people are underestimating the importance of that," he said. "We use our human factors lab to gain a strong understanding of cognitive load." Voice technology, he added, is not the "end all and be all" to solving the driver distraction problem because while it may decrease distraction owing to physical actions by the vehicle operator, it doesn't necessarily diminish cognitive workload. Geschke noted that electronics had been a technology limiter in the past, but today "the technology is advancing so rapidly that the imagination is the only limiter."
