Productizing Telematics

Modern vehicles are equipped with various sensors that can monitor the status of the vehicle and the driver. The telematics data generated from those sensors not only improve driving safety, but also create the possibility of many innovative services.

Telematic Control Unit (TCU) is an embedded device on a vehicle that collects the information of the vehicle and sends it to a remote system for analysis. A typical TCU may consist of a processing unit, a localization device (e.g., global positioning system, GPS), and a communication device (e.g., cell modem). The main purpose of having onboard telematic control units is to collect the vehicle status remotely, so that the services can be provided anytime and anywhere.