Automotive IT is the ‘next big thing’ as far as the industry is concerned and there are already many companies out their rubbing their hands at the sight of this prospective cash cow.

By the year 2007, the mid-range car is expected to have up to 70 CPUs. Market research company IDC expects the total automotive IT market size of $6.4 billion in 2004, to reach $7.66 billion by 2008.

IDC believes that automotive players are gradually moving away from cost-cutting mentalities of the past towards creating a manufacturing environment for sustained innovation. The market research company believes this will focus both IT companies and car makers on implementing strategic applications to gain a competitive edge.

"The business drivers of the automotive industry continue to force car manufacturers to examine certain functional business areas within their value chains," said Jennifer Thomson, program manager at IDC's European Vertical Markets. "Business transformation for information visibility to enable a customer-centric ETO environment will be a key driver for IT investments."

It used to be only top-of-the-range range models carried such extras as video players. But back-seat entertainment consoles, navigation systems and wireless technologies are going to be offered as standard equipment by almost 75% of the 38 major car makers questioned by the US Telematics Research Group (TRG) recently.

So the race is on between both IT companies and car makers to kit their models out with technology they believe will woo consumers into choosing one make over another. For example, Last month, for example, Volkswagen teamed up with Nokia to unveil an in-car communication system based on Bluetooth wireless technology that will be built into all Volkswagen Passat models. Volkswagen will be the first car manufacturer to offer a factory-fitted system that supports Bluetooth SIM Access Profile.

With the increasing complexity of automotive computerisation, many applications now need processing power far greater than 8-bit or even 16-bit. Here ARM has been fast to see an opportunity for itself in the automotive industry. It can provide 32-bit RISC processing power at prices comparable with 16-bit devices, whilst offering a modular, system-on-chip design that speeds up development and ensures that even the most complex designs are right from the off-set.  A key issue when you realise it takes several years to design a car.

Pricing and design turnaround times are also central in the areas of car navigation and in-car entertainment which are more closely tuned to the life-cycle of consumer electronics than standard car electronics. One day consumers see Cd players in the car as leading edge, the next it is satellite radio!

Market pressure for increased safety provisions and continued demand for improved fuel consumption and low emissions all demand more processing power.  Future ABS systems, together with electronic stabilisation and suspension, and the ability to run complex software will require chips that go the extra mile.

ARM is already working with a number of partners in these areas including Philips on infotainment, Texas Instruments on braking systems and STMicroelectronics on body, ABS and airbag systems.

Late last year Freescale Semiconductor announced in Detroit, the home of car production, the availability of the ARM Powered® MAC7100 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) family. Due to its size, high performance and extensive support, it was heralded as the next-generation solution to automotive design body, chassis and safety.

Combining the efficiencies of the ARM7TDMI® processor and flexibility of Freescale's standard platform architecture, the 32-bit MAC7100 MCU family is designed to meet the cost and complexity needs of a wide range of automotive applications, including climate control systems, airbags and EPAS (electric power assisted steering). It was confirmation that automotive designers want an efficient, well-supported software engine to converging functionality of distinct modules to reduce costs, without losing reliability. 

The amount of software code being written for cars is increasing some three to five times each year; 70 microprocessors, on average, now reside in a given vehicle; and in two years, nearly 40% of a vehicle's value will rest in software and electronics. Five years from now, it will be 90%.

We all want innovation, but car makers have to get it right. Today, warranty costs associated with software defects are approaching three billion dollars annually. A staggering thirty-eight per cent of problems are associated with software and electronics. The increased use of electronics is driving a car’s complexity up— and in some cases, driving quality down. The automotive industry is being challenged by customer demands, but it must not let complexity get in the way of real innovation.

If the car makers have their way we’ll have more computing power sitting on the driveway than on our desks.  But it is up to us to judge how much we want or need.