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Nissan Exhibits IEEE 1394-Compatible Car
Dirak writes "High-speed IEEE 1394 optical fiber networks have gone off-road with new Nissan's prototype vehicle demonstrated this year's at 11th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems. The prototype is equipped with 7 cameras on the body and a 12-inch LCD monitor in the front and another in the rear seat area. Thanks to the in-vehicle IEEE 1394 LAN, which is capable of high-speed communications at 400Mbps via optical cable, the front and the rear seat monitors can display various information simultaneously, for example. The application of optical fiber also means that the weight of the cables can be reduced to about one-half the weight of a conventional wiring harness."
I mean, seriously, whats so special?
Optical in a car? So? We've had cables in a car for quite some time. We've had monitors in a car for quite some time. We've even had internet in a car for quite some time. Whats so special?
We've moved to communicating 1394 with light wires?? Hurray.
No offense, but why is this "stuff that matters"?? Or is it just "news for nerds"?
How about number 6? 6. Playing high-speed driving games instead of actually driving. Actually though, your number 5 is already in existance. I had a '97 Pontiac Bonneville with a low spray tank level warning. I think with that much bandwidth though, there's no reason a car could be sensored out to the max. If only they'd toss on a mode so you could see what the check engine light really is...
IEEE1394.b was supposedly capable of scaling to 3200mbps via optical connections, but I've not yet seen any such equipment (or even the 1600mbps variant) - anyone know what the poop is on >800mbps FW?
Before we get too excited about weight reductions, increased technology or bragging rights, let's remember something.
Air-conditioning, power-steering and even ABS still aren't standard despite costing next to nothing at build time and being about as essential as you could get.
Manufacturers need to cripple cheaper cars to somehow justify the extra $100k plus you can spend on higher-end models. Otherwise people start saying why does this car cost twice as much when it isn't twice the car?
I suspect it will be a long time before we see this sort of thing in wide use.
Indy Media Watch-Proctologist of the Internet
before in car networks, when you had to run a cable from the driver-side window switch to every window in the car, vehicles had somewhere near 20 miles (!) of cables inside. today, class two networks, such as CAN, MOST, and this firewire thing, have taken over alot of the functionality, replacing dumb control wires with protocol messages and microcontrollers. did you know that in a modern high end gm vehicle, and similarly in a mercedes, you can now control every non-critical component (windows, headlights, air conditioner, wipers, radio, ...) from a single lan? MOST even carries audio data from your CD changer over the same network. we're talking literally hundreds of pounds saved, especially in large and feature-full vehicles.
But what is the weight of 7 cameras and two LCD monitors? I'm guessing if the drivers can show 4 feeds at once, its probably not a 4 inch LCD.. and the boxes to mux the video feeds..
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
When it comes to operational and safety components, I want things on their own subsystems. That means one set of wires for the brake lights, one set of wires for antilock brake control, one set of wires for the fuel tank level indicator, etc. etc.
If something gets in the wiring, I'd rather it knock out half my electrical than all of it. I'd also like key systems to be isolated from non-key systems. If my headlights develop a short and the wires overheat and melt, I don't want the wires leading to my starter motor to melt too.
Now, when it comes to entertainment, like radio, dvd player, etc., or comfort items, like climate control or the map lights, do whatever's cheapest to build, cheapest to repair, least likely to fail (bearing in mind that some wiring designs create single points of multiple failure).
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
As others have mentioned, saving weight anywhere possible is a Good Thing (tm) in a car. Ligher weight means a higher power to weight ratio, which means a faster car at the same horsepower (or better mileage, if you're into that sort of thing). Don't believe me? Take a look at the Porsche GT3 RS. They went so far in removing weight that the Porsche emblem on the hood is a sticker! Traditionally, it's a plastic or metal badge, but they went all out in removing as much weight as possible from the GT3 for the RS revision. BMW went so far with the M3 CSL that they replaced the floor of its trunk with cardboard. The floor pan in the C6 Corvette is made out of balsa wood sandwiched between thin layers of aluminum. Obviously these cars aren't really going for gas mileage, but the principles are the same. Besides, as we move more and more towards hybrid or all-electric vehicles, a 50 pound saving in wiring gear means that you have 50 more pounds available for batteries or other electricity storage mechanisms, thus adding extra range to the car because you're adding more power reserves without adding any more weight.
The biggest hurdle here is not whether or not they can do it, but whether or not it gains acceptance. For example, Porsche has started using the MOST bus in recent model years for their audio equipment (they use Becker equipment, listed on that page), and it's difficult to find compatible aftermarket equipment. Firewire has the benefit of several years on the market already in various applications, so it's a well-known technology by now.
Nissan Motors has been for many years trying to bully and harass a small business owner by the name of Mr. Nissan, who registered nissan.com for his computer company, before Nissan Motors had ever considered having a web presence.. htm
Nissan Motors was stupid and slow, but they felt that by paying enough money to lawyers to harass this small business owner, they could intimidate him into handing over what did not belong to them, the nissan.com domain.
This is a well-known and unfortunate story, it's been featured on TechTV and other places, more info here:
http://www.ncchelp.org/The_Story/the_story
Even though my last car was a Nissan, I decided I won't be buying from them again after learning of their behavior.
I urge you to boycott Nissan, and to write to Nissan motors exlaining to them that you don't support corporate thuggishness.