Lin (Local Interconnect Network) Solutions: Fill & Download for Free

Modern cars have more electronics than you can think of. Almost every important part has tons of sensors on it that has a dedicated computer called ECU (Electrical Control Unit). Usually there are from several up to hundreds of ECU’s on a single car. Especially luxury ones. All modules has to work as on organized unit. So this is where reliable connection interface needed.Probably you’ve already heard of CAN bus (Controller Area Network). It is common bus interface used in most vehicles where board computer communicates with separate control ECUs taking care of engine, gearbox, climate, security alarm, safety bags. Talking of physical interfacing CAN devices are connected by using twisted pair signal wires that are resistant to noises. Signals usually operate at 5V level. Transmit/receive can be 1Mb/s for 40m cable lengths. Engineers have put lots of thought in to CAN protocol. It was designed to be flexible reliable and robust. There can be more than one master CAN device on same buss. So there can be situation when several masters would start communication. In this case there is a message priority used to determine which one will have right to transmit data. CAN nodes act as independent units and can receive any message and take act if needed. This feature is called ‘multicast’. This allows adding new CAN devices to existing bus without need to reconfigure existing setup.CAN interface is quite complex interface allowing to have multiple masters what makes it robust and versatile. But due to growing cost of amount of electronics used in cars, manufacturers started looking for cheaper solutions that would complement the CAN bus and be cheaper. So they came up with LIN (Local Interconnect Network) bus. LIN bus interface is simpler standard comparing to CAN. LIN can have up to 16 slave nodes controlled by one master. It is slower and cheaper as nodes are clocked by master (no crystals for each node). LIN can be simply implemented as sub-function in CAN LIN interface USART RISC microcontroller. While CAN transceiver is complex device so it usually comes as separate peripheral or as separate chip. LIN uses single wire for communications with about 40V signal voltage level. It can reach up to19.2kbps communication speed with maximum 40m length of line.After this short overview it is obvious that LIN interface is low band, less effective bus interface comparing to CAN. In other hand where efficiency isn’t as ‘must’ factor it serves as cheap complement to CAN network.

Vehicle networking is also known as by Vehicle bus. A vehicle bus is a specialized internal communications network that interconnects components inside a vehicle (e.g., automobile, bus, train, industrial or agricultural vehicle, ship, or aircraft). Special requirements for vehicle control such as assurance of message delivery, of non-conflicting messages, of minimum time of delivery, of low cost, and of EMF noise resilience, as well as redundant routing and other characteristics mandate the use of less common networking protocols. Protocols include Controller Area Network (CAN), Local Interconnect Network (LIN) and others. Conventional computer networking technologies (such as Ethernet and TCP/IP) are rarely used, except in aircraft, where implementations of the ARINC 664 such as the Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet are used. Aircraft that use AFDX include the B787, the A400M and the A380.All cars sold in the United States since 1996 are required to have an On-Board Diagnostics connector, for access to the car's electronic controllers.Enabling safe and secure connections inside the car and to the cloudThese capabilities offer new business opportunities built upon new, valued mobility services for an improved user experience and features that generate new revenue streams for the automotive industry.Solutions to unlock the value of connected vehicle dataVehicle Network Processing (VNP)VNP ensures secure data processing and networking for vehicle gateways and service-oriented gateways. It securely interconnects different vehicle networks and supports Over-the-Air (OTA) updates to enable new features that improve safety, security, and passenger experience.

Update: Facebook's interest in Titan Aerospace, makers of near-orbital, solar-powered drones which can fly for five years without needing to land. Essentially, drones that will be communication points to bring internet to rural parts of the world.Short answer: Because Google has objectives that don't align with Page on internet.org. Facebook's in it for business, Google is in it for something entirely else.Imagine a world where the only way to access the internet is through Facebook, WhatsApp and Opera. Sound far-fetched? Hardly. Did you know that 2/3 of the world’s population has no access to the internet? The worldview of the internet by the third world is pretty much non-existent. Facebook’s recent $19B acquisition for“WhatsApp”and internet.org initiative are parts of their (B.H.A.G) Big Hairy Audacious Goal to shift the paradigm of internet connectivity from non-essential to a necessity for the developing world. What’s the underlining challenge of addressing the demographic of people in the developing world? The challenge is to include the internet as a necessity for basic needs along with food, water, shelter, and clothing.How is Facebook looking to take on this crusade?The fact is that Facebook alone has neither the expertise nor capital to fund such an endeavor. Mark Zuckerberg stated himself “But no one company or government can build out a full stack of infrastructure to support this around the world. So you need to work together with folks.” So how does Facebook look to bring the internet to the world?Let’s start with internet.orgInternet.org is a global partnership between technology leaders, nonprofits, local communities and experts who are working together to bring the internet to the two thirds of the world’s population that doesn't have it.Sounds quite noble, the marketing jargon even hints at being closely tied with philanthropist and non-profit endeavors. However, seldom are corporate intentions purely for the betterment of mankind. At the end of the day, Facebook is a business and as a business it looks to make money and invest or be the forerunner / inventor of a trend – much like Apple for smartphones, Google for search, or Microsoft for PC software.However, the genius behind internet.org is that Facebook is looking years ahead into the future to commoditize the full stack of the internet for 2/3 of the world’s population. Facebook is looking to form a monopoly by solidifying their presence as the face of the “internet” for those in developing countries. With the right partnerships for infrastructure demands, Facebook can be the king of Over the top (OTT) solutions for the emerging market.The challenges internet.org are addressing (optimizing hardware and software partner solutions to accommodate efficient data consumption)Hardware:Adoption of affordable smartphonesNokia: You are probably wondering; Why Nokia? Remember the Nokia 3310? Legend says that the only way to destroy the most durable phone ever created on planet earth is to throw it into the fiery pits of Mount Doom. Facebook and the rest of the partners understand that the “use case” for users in developing countries are hypermobile, reside in harsh environments, and require functionality rather aesthetics. A delicate and fragile smartphone would not be ideal for that "persona". Therefore, Nokia being an expert in building functional and durable phones would be the perfect partner to design the“smartphone”for the developing world.Samsung: In two words, “Market Share”. Samsung has the largest marketshare (32%) in the smartphone industry. By far, Samsung has the largest expertise and ability to supply the upcoming demand for smartphones by the other 5 billion people on the planet.Qualcomm: Mobile leader in 3G and 4G wireless connectivity.Mediatek: Leader in mobile smartphone connectivity (Wi-fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC), chipsets, and wireless charging.2. Telecommunication infrastructure to support smartphone usageEricsson: Leading provider for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Partnered with Facebook to build optimized applications, networks, devices, and services through their innovation lab.Telco: Singtel,Orange,Globe, amongst other telecommunication service providers already have existing infrastructure to support Page on internet.org’s initiatives. Unfortunately, partnerships like these can lead many to believe that service providers are “dumb pipes”; however, that can be saved for another discussion.Software:Paradigm shift to view the “internet” (browser & apps) as a basic human need (Facebook, Opera Software).Facebook: WhatsApp (VoIP, SMS, IM), Jibbigo (Speech translation), Parse (mobile backend Interoperability)WhatsApp is the most adopted mobile messaging application in the world with the majority of adoption sprouting from emerging markets (India, Brazil). Furthermore, WhatsApp works exceptionally well with popular “Nokia” feature phones. Ringing any bells (Internet.org partner)? If WhatsApp becomes the go to communications application for the 5 billion people in the developing market; $19B purchase doesn’t seem quite that audacious. You can see that WhatsApp is also even going as far as to build out “voice”for their platform, to solidify their strategy of being the ultimate communications application.Jibbigo a speech-to-speech translation app for both iOs and Android that can be used offline without a data connection. Plenty of use cases spanning across this acquisition; however, I will not dive into it.Parse is an app that builds the backend framework for mobile devices that is interoperable and allows developers to focus on creating the frontend UI / UX. Parse will essentially be the gateway for third-party developers to quickly build out specific mobile applications in scale on Facebook’s platform for developing countries.Opera: (Horizon) Strong mobile browser capabilities, (Rocket Optimizer) backend data optimization for carriers, (Mini) advanced mobile browser analytics.Rocket Optimizer allows carriers to optimize data usage on feature phones or next-gen smartphones. A key driver in developing countries is that “data compression” can frequently yield results of 70–80% — or almost 5x savings.Horizon provides mobile browsing capabilities. What differentiates them from Chrome, IE, Safari, Mozilla is that they allow Operators and OEMs to deploy Horizon as a toolbar under their own brand names and preferred language, and make this experience accessible to each of their users as they use the native and other browsers on their smartphones.Who else is doing this you might ask?Well, Google is trying – with their recent endeavor with project loon. Project loon aims to connect the rest of the world to the internet though a system of balloons; interconnected as communication points, that float in the stratosphere.How is this different from internet.org and are they competing?Geo-location trends gravitate toward the fact that both Facebook and Google (albeit not partners, and seen in the public eye as competitors) are actually working together to achieve a common goal. For the sake of the argument, I will not be focusing on other variables such as the political and economic climate that may be a roadblock.Large scale challenges that Facebook and Google are trying to tackleGeo-location:Population dense locations in the developing world (Internet.org)Explained above through hardware and software2. Rural locations in the developing / developed world (Project Loon)Technological advancements in internet connectivity are still inadequate due to geo-locational limitations (ie: cell towers, wirelines, etc…). Utilizing current methods, the costs exceedingly outweigh the benefits for building out telecommunication infrastructure in rural areas. Google looks to fill that gap using inexpensive, effective, and self-sufficient (solar-powered) balloons to cover the pockets of rural areas that would traditional be capital intensive with current methods.Internet.org taken at face value may seem like a philanthropic initiative, however, the ultimate goal is to own the gateway (smartphone), infrastructure (networks), and applications that will power the rest of the web. If you start connecting the dots, you can see that Facebook is heralding internet.org so that they can monopolize all the goods and services associated with supplying the internet demand for third-world countries. Although, internet.org is highly capital intensive and time / resource consuming, nonetheless, I see it as more of a lucrative business opportunity than say Google’s project loon. If Facebook succeeds to brings the majority of the 2/3’s of the world’s population online throughinternet.org, they can essentially build out / replicate an ecosystem (Network, Feature / Smartphones + Facebook, WhatsApp, Parse) very much / or more lucrative than Apple’s hardware and software business model (iPhone, iPad, MBP + iTunes, iCloud, App Store).Ultimately, both internet.org and Project Loon have differentiators that bridge the gap for internet connectivity in emerging markets; however, Facebook seems to be taking the harder and more profitable route. Internet.org and Project Loon are not competitors but rather they complement one another in addressing the need to provide internet access to those who don’t have it. It wouldn't be crazy to see both Facebook and Google piggy backing services off each other’s networks (Internet.org & Project Loon) in the near future.Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Facebook or any other mentioned company.