Connect to All

Objectives

Various embedded equipment are becoming more and more numerous inside transport vehicles. Apart from mandatory devices such as the tachograph, various other equipment is available such as radio communication systems (GSM / GPRS), localisation devices (GPS), and a variety of miscellaneous tools and equipment for specific needs (data loggers, PC tablet, cameras, mobile phones, on-board computers, etc.). However the lack of interoperability results in duplication of services, redundancy of system features and sub-optimal utilization of available hardware and software resources.

The C2A project aims to develop a generic technology for interoperability (“intelligent communicating bus”) allowing communication and resource sharing between embedded devices in the vehicle.

Results

The project had two main components:

• R&D activities consisting of design, development and implementation of an
  embedded system prototype allowing connection and automatic recognition
  of a wide range of peripheral devices.
• A dissemination action of which the objective is to implement a structured
  communication involving both ICT services companies and transport and logistics operators around the R&D work in the project. The Proof-Of- Concept illustrated some of the innovative features of the system such us the automatic recognition of peripherals, the continuous monitoring of the status of available resources and the activation of simple services based on the gathered data.

Added Value

The ICT companies can develop new features and services by interfacing their solutions to the C2A system and accessing an extended data set. They could also implement their own services on top of C2A architecture or integrate the C2A building blocks into their own solutions. Companies and operators of transport and logistics field can deploy these new services and benefit from a flexible system easily adaptable and extensible.