BMW looks into satellite-based Internet service - Automotive News

MUNICH, Germany — BMW Group could crook to abstraction to guarantee its connected vehicles enactment online.

The German automaker is exploring plans to bring satellite-based Internet entree to its sedans and crossovers, said Stephan Durach, elder vice president of BMW Group's connected institution improvement unit.

Customers expect a unchangeable Internet transportation astatine each times, Durach said astatine a media briefing present past month.

So-called nonterrestrial web exertion offers the imaginable for seamless connectivity, and BMW is evaluating aboriginal applications and concern possibilities.

"We're looking astatine outer communication, particularly successful an situation wherever cellphone reception is not good," Durach said. "A batch of places successful Europe and the U.S., you don't person capable coverage."

Robust in-vehicle Internet connectivity is present table stakes arsenic automakers trust connected over-the-air bundle updates to unlock features and crockery retired integer services similar video streaming.

But for now, the precocious outgo and constricted information transmission capableness marque satellite-based Internet work the "connection of past resort," said Sam Abuelsamid, main expert astatine Guidehouse Insights.

"If you interruption down oregon tally retired of artillery powerfulness successful the mediate of Nebraska wherever there's nary compartment coverage, outer connectivity volition let you to nonstop a connection for roadside assistance," Abuelsamid said. "It's bid of mind."

Abuelsamid doesn't spot automakers leaning connected outer connectivity for conveyance information transmission, conscionable yet.

"Most of the information an automaker would privation to transmit is not time-sensitive," helium said. "They tin cache it until the car is backmost successful wireless work range."

The car industry's emerging request for always-on Internet connectivity is fueling backstage investment.

Elon Musk's Starlink service beams down high-speed broadband to the remotest corners of the satellite via a constellation of 3,000-plus satellites hovering 340 miles supra successful debased Earth orbit.

Meanwhile, China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group's space exertion unit has launched a commercialized low-orbit outer web to present Internet, navigation and unreality computing capabilities to cars with autonomous driving technology.

Automakers are experimenting with in-vehicle outer connectivity.

In 2016, Toyota showed disconnected a Mirai-based conception car with a outer connection. Partnering with Kymeta, of Redmond, Wash., Toyota replaced the traditional, bulky crockery antenna with peculiar bundle and a sleek flat-panel extortion antenna.

With nary moving parts, the "electronically steered" antenna tin way the outer portion receiving and sending Internet information arsenic a conveyance travels astatine much than 100 mph, Kymeta said.

Toyota Ventures has invested successful Xona Space Systems of San Mateo, Calif., chiefly to amended determination information for automated vehicles.

"Xona is gathering a high-performance alternate to GPS designed to enactment the needs of modern autonomous systems," Jim Adler, Toyota Ventures' founding managing director, told Automotive News earlier this year.

Xona's satellites tin enactment what Adler called "all-weather autonomy" for safer AV cognition successful conditions specified arsenic dense rainfall and snow.

The complexity progressive successful connecting a moving conveyance to orbiting satellites is not trivial.

Challenges see ensuring interoperability betwixt aggregate outer networks and making the seamless hand-off betwixt terrestrial and nonterrestrial networks.

"Technology-wise, you request a beauteous tricky tract array antenna which is looking for the satellites," Durach said. "We are trying to fig retired if we tin find a meaningful exertion successful the car."

But arsenic outer infrastructure goes up, the outgo is coming down.

In the past, the basal presumption was excessively expensive, Durach said. Now, operators are "putting much exertion up successful orbit to little the prices for the terminal connected the ground."