Vehicle makers mull interface issues

Automobile manufacturers are moving toward a standard high-speed interface that would provide the shared electrical architecture needed to simplify the implementation of navigation systems, CD players, video screens, digital radios, cell phones, and other devices. An industry group is now considering an automotive version of the IEEE 1394 bus which is already used in over 10 million camcorders, eight million PCs, and millions more printers, scanners, video games, and mass-storage devices. A previously proposed standard, Media Oriented Systems Transport, is still in the running but concerns over the openness of the technology seem to have tipped the scales toward the 1394. The Automotive Multimedia Interface Collaboration, which includes BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Fiat, General Motors, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen, has left open the possibility of endorsing more than one standard.

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