​Cisco and Hyundai promise hyperconnected car for 2019

Networking giant Cisco and motor company Hyundai are working together on high-end ‘hyperconnected’ cars, which they say will launch in 2019.

The two companies teamed up in 2016 to develop a new in-car network, which will offer over-the-air updates for services and accelerate the time it takes to bring new capabilities to market.

Seung-ho Hwang, executive vice president and head of Hyundai Motor Group’s Auto Intelligence Business Department, said: “In 2019 we will unveil the first vehicle equipped with groundbreaking connected-car technologies jointly developed by the two companies.”

The companies said the use of a ‘software-defined vehicle’ architecture offers integrated, multi-layer security and will be the first to provide 1Gbps Ethernet, significantly increasing in-vehicle bandwidth. “By enabling IP and Ethernet services, legacy buses and devices will work together with the new Ethernet attached devices and services,” Cisco said.

Cisco is predicting 40 million connected cars will be on the road by 2020, and argues that over-the-air updates could save car makers $35bn by 2022 by cutting trips back to the dealer to get updates down.

Download now: IT leader’s guide to the future of autonomous vehicles

While quite common in smartphones and personal computers, remote over-the-air (OTA) software updates are still only in their infancy in the automotive space, according to analyst IHS Automotive. It said that OTA software updates will eventually be a big benefit for the automotive industry by reducing warranty costs and providing the ability to upgrade functionality and add features to automotive infotainment systems over a vehicle’s lifetime.

The two companies are also exploring ideas such as integration of in-car systems with Hyundai datacenters, to give access to real-time data, and connecting cars to city infrastructure — for example, giving them the ability to communicate with traffic lights and parking meters.

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