How much value does the Internet of Vehicles have? What we see now is just the tip of the iceberg

Recently, Zhihu has been conducting a Q&A activity on smart cockpits, which also involves many professional issues related to the Internet of Vehicles. Today, I would like to start with GM's OnStar Gen 12 and discuss the development and investment ideas of the Internet of Vehicles. I think that in essence, after the vehicle is connected to the Internet, it needs a cockpit or other interactive core units to realize the functions. In other words, the functions of simple voice, data and background connection are actually very simple and need to be expanded. However, in this process, traditional car companies may find it difficult to play this role due to their thinking problems.

Figure 1: GM's OnStar has been in operation since 1995

Part 1: Universal T-box

This was GM's definition of T-box 17 years ago (around 2006). In fact, from a very early stage, the task of this TCU was to be a voice call, GPS and connection channel.

Figure 2 TCU design 17 years ago

By 2022, Continental has developed the 12th generation TCU for GM, and this TCU is actually used by many car companies (Volvo, Benz, PSA, etc.). The parts included in this TCU include:

NAD and 3G/4G/LTE, GNSS

External antenna and internal antenna

Voice and data

Glonass, Beidou, Galileo, GPS

2×2 DL-MIMO for 4G

Internal embedded Sim-IC

Audio subsystem including analog microphone input and speaker output

Digital audio interface, including CODEC and audio power amplifier

· Telephone services and emergency calls and assistance

Internal backup battery (BUB)

High-precision GNSS L1/L5

Figure 3: Continental TCU block diagram and external connections

From the interface point of view, it mainly includes:

Main power input (8-16V, 250mA, power consumption 5.5W), main LTE antenna, GPS input, three Onstar button inputs, LED control, external microphone input and output, external speaker output, CAN communication, Ethernet 100Base T1 (100MB) or 1000BaseT1 (1GB) and diagnostic interfaces (USB, UART).

From the perspective of components, the internal design is as follows. In fact, compared with more than 10 years ago, more functional modules have been added, and integration is done around chip-based communication components.

Figure 4 Main module components of T-box

After removing the shielding cover of the main communication module, we can see that the main communication blocks are Qualcomm's SA415M and SDR8179AQ, and the chips above are JZ080, QPM4620AQQDM4670AQ.

Figure 5 Communication module in TCU

From this unit, the definition of Telematics by traditional car companies, the services and types are roughly as follows, mainly covering safety and information security, infotainment systems, fleet management and diagnostic services, and the competition landscape is also mainly centered around the ability to provide physical units such as T-box.

Figure 6 Does Telematics only cover this unit?

Part 2: Business structure of Internet of Vehicles

Take the broad Internet of Vehicles industry digital economy service provider map we see in China as an example. The coverage is very comprehensive, covering multiple blocks such as digital operation services, Internet of Vehicles big data, smart cockpit, smart driving and vehicle-road collaboration. I think everyone understands things differently. In China, we can think from the perspective of the road environment. The broad Internet of Vehicles industry chain under the entire automotive industry should include the supply side, the operation side and the user side, and the value chain should be developed in sequence.

1) On the supply side, it mainly includes roadside facilities, cloud control platforms, high-precision positioning, high-definition maps, vehicle-mounted terminals and other equipment and services.

2) On the operational side, the operators of the Internet of Vehicles infrastructure provide various forms of services to various users and obtain service returns.

3) Parking lots and other related entities gain profits by attracting traffic through the platform.

4) On the user side, vehicle manufacturers obtain vehicle premium by providing Internet of Vehicles functions to C-end and B-end users; while on the public vehicle service side, such as bus and taxi companies, they improve service levels by improving operational efficiency.

Figure 7 Connected vehicles require a powerful processor to carry services

In fact, the basis of these needs is to allow a large number of vehicles to effectively export massive amounts of data through T-boxes, so as to increase the number of connected cars. The value of the entire Internet of Vehicles is not measured by the price of T-boxes (how much is it now) or by making V2X well. The Internet of Vehicles is a transient state of automobile development, transforming a hardware product originally made around mechanics into an intelligent electric car made around electricity, and further connecting to the Internet around various sensors and high-computing computing platforms with edge computing capabilities (Automotive Computer).

Figure 8 The value services of the vehicle network need to be built on the basis of large screens, high computing power hardware and universal OS

At this time, it is a bit like the time when mobile phones gradually expanded from the function of making calls. In fact, we could not predict that at that stage, vehicles would be able to develop various other functions besides simple mobility. What we can expect now is to install large screens, use high-computing chips, and achieve more powerful storage capabilities to create enough space for the development of in-vehicle OS and software services, so that consumers can pay in the car.

summary: 

I think GM's attempts over the past 30 years have actually been centered around functionality. Now the logic of the Internet of Vehicles has evolved from the car to the system. The entire car is armed to the teeth with digitalization. Smart cockpits, smart driving, and vehicle-road collaboration are functional areas that we can understand now. So imagine: what else can a car that can play games, project, and has L4 fully autonomous driving capabilities do in 2025-2030? The future value of the Internet of Vehicles is really centered around the services of the new generation of people - it may serve the passengers, or it may autonomously send me something, such as the current situation in Shanghai, allowing it to purchase items autonomously with the needs of users.

In my opinion, the foundation of the Internet of Vehicles is to pull up data and connect vehicles to us, and then as various functions are implemented, it can indeed realize a variety of digital services - just like we couldn't imagine that mobile phones could be used as wallets before, but now I rely entirely on my mobile phone to buy groceries every day to make a living.