Daimler Introduces MOST150 in the New Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The MOST(r) Cooperation – standardization organizationfor the leading automotive multimedia network technology Media Oriented SystemsTransport (MOST) – is delighted to announce that Daimler implemented MOST150 inits new Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles. “MOST150 has successfullyaccomplished series development for the next Mercedes-Benz infotainmentgeneration, with fully-qualified series production parts available for all keycomponents,” stated Peter Haeussermann, Head of TelematicsElectrics/Electronics at Daimler AG. “MOST150 has recently been firstimplemented in the brand-new generation of the S-Class. After that, thetechnology will be rolled out onto all other Mercedes-Benz car lines, step bystep.”

Smooth Migration to New Functions

The development of this newest MOST generation has beenaccompanied by a cost/benefit analysis that led to several innovations on onehand and to a high level of backward compatibility on the other. Existingapplications can easily be reused in the new network by simply modifying theirnetwork interfaces. Therefore, it offers a smooth adaption with the majority offeatures being continued. Daimler will reuse and adopt many components out oftheir proven system architectures, as for example, main parts of topologies,network management and application structures. As a result, the focus will beon the development of new functions.

Automotive IP Network and Internet Application

Peter Haeussermann added, “At Daimler, we expectthat the prevalence of internet applications in the automotive environment willgrow significantly. Consequently, future infotainment platforms have to meetthese new requirements.” MOST150 makes a crucial contribution to this byproviding the MOST Ethernet protocol. With this new communication channel, bothhigh-performance IP networks and internet applications can easily beimplemented. The Ethernet channel can transmit unmodified Ethernet frames(according to IEEE 802.3) with more than 100 Mbit/s depending on the networkconfiguration. This permits software stacks and applications from the consumerand IT domain to be seamlessly migrated into the car. TCP/IP stacks or protocolentities utilizing TCP/IP can communicate via MOST without any modification.Thus, the new generation of MOST provides the automotive-ready physical layerfor Ethernet in the car.

About MOST Technology

MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) is a multimedianetworking technology optimized for use in cars and other applications. Itenables the transport of high Quality of Service audio and video together withpacket data and real-time control over a single transmission medium. MOST canuse plastic optical fibers (POF), coax based electrical physical layer, andshielded and unshielded twisted pair (STP/UTP) copper wires that meetautomotive environmental requirements. Today, MOST is used in over 150 car modelsas the communication backbone for their information and entertainmentequipment.

About MOST Cooperation

The MOST Cooperation (MOSTCO) is the organization throughwhich MOST Technology is standardized and refined so that it continues to stayabreast of the latest industry requirements. Today it consists of 16international carmakers and more than 60 key component suppliers. They havejoined together to work with the MOST Technology and to contribute to itsinnovation. The MOST Cooperation is prepared to embrace efforts to furtherdevelop and standardize the technology for other industries and to establishthe corresponding work structures. The MOST Cooperation was founded in 1998 tostandardize MOST Technology as a global standard for multimedia networking.Audi, BMW, Daimler, HARMAN and Microchip Technology are its core partners andconstitute its Steering Committee. For more information see http://www.mostcooperation.com.