Google’s entry into the OEM navigation market is giving Google Maps “an even greater strategic advantage,” said Strategy Analytics Monday. “The transition of Android from simply a smartphone projection solution to a full embedded operating system has really shaken up the infotainment and navigation segment,” said analyst Edward Sanchez. Google’s “aggressive entry into the automotive space has been a real wake-up call for the legacy players in this market,” said analyst Richard Robinson. Those who thought the company’s ambitions in the segment ended with Android Auto were “mistaken,” said Robinson: “It’s a whole new game now, and the key to success will be ongoing innovation.” Ford, General Motors, Honda, Renault-Nissan and Volvo/Polestar publicly committed to Google Automotive Systems, being called “Google Built-In," Sanchez emailed. The platform is "rapidly gaining popularity with OEMs," he said. Android "is not necessarily synonymous with Google” on ownership and curation of the technology stack, said Sanchez: "Harman’s Ignite platform is Android-based, but allows the OEMs to have greater control of the curation and management of the stack, data and app ecosystem."

The FCC acted reasonably and within its responsibilities to ensure the best use of spectrum in dividing 5.9 GHz, with 45 MHz for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, industry and public service intervenors told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials want the court to overturn the order (see 2106020076). “Unhappy” that the FCC “has decreased their spectrum bankroll, Appellants and Intervenors are trying to chase their losses to the Court,” said Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute at New America, posted Wednesday night in docket 21-1130. “But the Court cannot offer their desired relief because the FCC properly determined that the public interest called for reallocating our nation’s limited spectrum resource.” The FCC record “demonstrated that 30 megahertz is more than sufficient to deliver the public safety benefits promised” by intelligent transportation systems, they said. “Petitioners posit a fragmented scheme of spectrum-management authority that opens the door to conflicting agency judgments,” said CTIA: “The FCC’s spectrum-allocation decisions frequently touch on areas regulated by other agencies -- but that does not deprive the FCC of its preeminence in spectrum management.” Petitioners want “this Court to second-guess the FCC,” said NCTA and the Wi-Fi Alliance. “The Commission relied on its technical expertise, predictive judgment, and an extensive record to conclude that” changes to the band “will both improve wireless broadband and increase the likelihood that the automotive industry will finally deliver long-promised safety applications.” The agency “adopted conservative technical rules governing indoor operation of unlicensed devices in the lower 45 megahertz of the band to avoid any significant risk of interference between those devices and automotive-safety applications in the upper 30 megahertz,” the groups said. The 5G Automotive Association, which promotes C-V2X, said the order will “materially advance vehicular safety.”

The FCC “reasonably exercised its authority over the Nation’s airwaves” in dividing the 5.9 GHz band, with 45 MHz set aside for Wi-Fi and 30 MHz for cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, the government told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Last year's order met a “pressing need for improved Wi-Fi internet service and other unlicensed uses, while also preserving ample capacity for present and anticipated vehicular-communications needs,” said a brief filed Wednesday in docket 21-1130. ITS America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials asked the court to overturn the order (see 2106020076). Wi-Fi advocates believe the order will stand (see 2107020036). The needs of the public and the best use of the spectrum have changed “dramatically” since the FCC allocated the spectrum for auto safety in 1999, the U.S. said. “Vehicular communications technology using the band has barely been deployed, and many of the features for which this spectrum was expected to be used have shifted to different technologies and to other bands,” the government said: “Demand for this spectrum to support Wi-Fi networks and wireless broadband -- technology that barely existed when this spectrum was allocated more than two decades ago -- has exploded.”

Though technology is a leading reason buyers choose one vehicle over another, many new vehicles are equipped with features consumers “want no part of,” said a Wednesday J.D. Power study. Carmakers suffer a “hit to profits” and sales if they include the wrong mix of features in vehicles, it said. Many owners indicated poor performance with interior gesture controls technology, which responds to hand motions instead of touch. Owners of gesture control indicated 41 problems per 100 vehicles; it had the lowest overall satisfaction score in the study for the second consecutive year. For a third of advanced technologies, fewer than half of owners have used the technology in the first 90 days of ownership, with nonusers saying they don’t need them. Just over half said they have never used driver-passenger communication technology in the vehicle. The highest execution scores were for camera-based rear-view mirror and ground-view camera, it said. Dealer demonstrations at delivery are key to keeping owners engaged with emerging technologies such as safe-exit assist technology, it said, saying owners can get a strong understanding of the system when they learn it from a dealer. Tesla’s unofficial score was highest in the study at 668 out of 1,000 points, but the company doesn’t grant the researcher permission to survey owners in 15 states where it sells vehicles. Data is based on a sample of surveys from owners in the other 35 states, J.D. Power said. Hyundai spinoff Genesis had the highest official ranking with an innovation index score of 634, followed in the premium segment by Cadillac (551), Volvo (550), BMW (545) and Mercedes-Benz (523). Hyundai led in the mainstream segment at 519, followed by Kia (510) Nissan (502), Subaru (499) and GMC (498).

The FCC's limiting part of the 5.9 GHz band to just cellular vehicle-to-everything use is raising “unanticipated intellectual property” issues, said representatives of Continental Automotive Systems in a call with an aide to FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “Parties obligated to comply with FCC regulations must be able to do so legally in compliance with the U.S. Patent Laws,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 19-138. Some C-V2X standard patent holders “refuse to license automotive industry participants such as Continental, or only will do so on unreasonable and discriminatory terms,” the company said.

Proposals in a July FCC Further NPRM, seeking revised rules for short-range field disturbance sensor (FDS) radars in the 60 GHz band (see 2107090047), got general support in comments due Monday in docket 21-264. Facebook, Intel and Qualcomm, which have other operations at 60 GHz, urged caution. “Adopt technical rules to ensure successful sharing with all types of unlicensed communications devices, applications, and services that use this band, including ultra-high throughput and ultra-low latency Wi-Fi,” they commented. Radars, subject to the 10% duty cycle limitation proposed in the NPRM, “can repeatedly interrupt short range communications equipment in this band unless the radar applications provide sufficiently long silent periods that communications applications can meaningfully use,” they said: A review of devices operating under an FCC waiver “demonstrate that radar devices are, in fact, operating with a much higher effective duty cycle that blocks other operations and impacts the ability of communications applications to meaningfully utilize the spectrum.” The Wi-Fi Alliance said any rules “to permit expanded use of FDS devices must ensure that those devices can co-exist with, and cause no harmful interference to, unlicensed operations in the 60 GHz band.” Most others support the proposal in the FNPRM. “Given the continued interest in use of mobile radars in the 60 GHz band and the success of various innovative and beneficial deployments under recent waivers, the time is ripe to revisit and broaden these rules,” said the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “Increase flexibility in the band for future innovative automotive use cases, including those that may operate outside of the vehicle cabin environment or those facilitating detection over greater distances,” the alliance urged. “Radar technologies in the 60 GHz band have been approved for gesture control, detection of unattended children or pets in vehicles, sleep assessment, and monitoring of vulnerable medical patients,” Google said. The FNPRM proposes to authorize FDS devices in 57-64 GHz at 20 dBm effective isotropic radiated power without coexistence, Amazon noted, urging extending that “across the entire 14 gigahertz of the band.” Amazon supported ending current waivers as long as “any rule changes adopted in this proceeding are not more technically and operationally onerous than the FDS waivers." Provide "as much flexibility as possible,” asked IEE Sensing: Set technical operating limits “and allow all manner of devices to operate in the 60 GHz band, so long as they stay within the ‘technical envelope’ set forth in the amended rules, rather than try to limit allowable use cases, like the Commission did in the 60 GHz Waiver Order, where sensors could only be deployed to ‘passenger motor vehicles.’”

Cellular-vehicle to everything is taking off, though more spectrum is needed in the U.S. to assure success, 5G Americas said Wednesday. The FCC allocated 30 MHz in the 5.9 GHz band, but at least 40 MHz is needed, according to the 5G Automotive Association, the white paper said. It stressed the importance of making C-V2X secure. “With any form of communications technology, there is always the risk of cyberattacks,” the paper said: “C-V2X was created from the start with security and privacy in mind.”

BMW’s most powerful electric vehicle to date, the iX, bowed at the IAA Mobility show in Munich featuring Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Dome tweeters, said the audio firm Tuesday. The B&W Diamond surround sound system, developed by engineering teams from both companies, was designed to make cabin occupants feel they are with the artist in the studio using technologies from B&W’s passive loudspeakers. The accurate, low-distortion tweeters have Nautilus swirls, spiraling channels behind the tweeter domes that dissipate reflected sound waves that emanate from the rear of the drive unit to limit distortion. To fit in with the minimalist interior of the BMW iX, the tweeters are covered with brushed stainless-steel covers with a laser-etched logo and a lighting effect, and the door speakers are hidden behind acoustically optimized fabric, B&W said. The tweeters, three aluminum dome tweeters and five midrange speakers are mounted as high as possible; eight speakers are integrated into the front and rear headrests, which can be individually adjusted to create a personalized audio experience for each passenger. Four bass speakers are supplemented by 4D Shakers for a deep bass experience at low volumes, it said. Passengers can engage with the sound system through four different sound modes, according to preference, B&W said.

Dolby is working with Cinemo, an automotive infotainment middleware company, to spur integration of Dolby Atmos in vehicles, the companies said Tuesday. Cinemo is the first global middleware licensee of the Dolby Car Experience. “Bringing high-quality audio to the automotive world isn’t like working in the consumer electronics space,” said Andreas Ehret, Dolby director-automotive, saying carmakers need infotainment specialists that understand the needs of the automotive world. Cinemo automotive solutions are deployed in millions of cars worldwide and adopted by many leading car manufacturers, it said. The combined offering allows for an easy upgrade solution, using established application programming interfaces “from a trusted player that carmakers are used to working with.” Dolby Car Experience technology can integrate into new and existing car audio subsystems and map to most speaker configurations. Dolby CEO Kevin Yeaman said on last month's earnings call (see 2107300048) that automotive is an area seen by artists and streaming services as an important segment to reach listeners. The executive believes Dolby Atmos Music “gives us an opportunity to make headway among car OEMs.”

A quarter of all problems that new-vehicle buyers experience in their first 90 days of ownership involve the infotainment category, and six of the top 10 problems across the industry are infotainment-related, reported J.D. Power Tuesday. Voice recognition, for the first time in a decade, isn't the top problem among new-vehicle owners. Smartphone connectivity via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay is the top headache, and is worsening “significantly,” said the company: “This is a particular problem when these systems are operated wirelessly, which is increasingly common.”