HARMAN International Industries announced Tuesday that it will work with AT&T to support the growing connected car ecosystem. AT&T has adopted HARMAN’s Telematics Control Unit (TCU) for its Mobile Broadband Accelerator program. The program streamlines AT&T’s certification process to ensure that new products and services reach customers more quickly.
HARMAN’s TCU is an integrated on-board telematics and infotainment unit that connects automotive systems to the cloud. It offers high-speed connectivity for fast, automotive-grade connectivity backed by security. With over 2,000 patents in key domains, including safety, design, navigation, connectivity, networking and HMI, HARMAN continues to push the boundaries bringing connected car innovations to market that enable new connected experiences, improve driver safety and increase vehicle security.
HARMAN’s TCU solution adheres to the company’s focus of introducing connected car solutions that enable greater power, productivity and personalization, including enabling GSM, GPS, Wi-Fi Hotspots and LTE network connectivity.
HARMAN offers TCU modules and associated telematics solutions to the world automakers supporting a host of functions ranging from emergency calls (or eCall) at a simple touch of a button, to extended connectivity options such as real time traffic reports and service bookings. HARMAN’s next generation telematics systems also have the ability to interface directly with HARMAN’s cloud-based analytics and server platform, offering automakers a managed services platform to update a variety of infotainment and other vehicle system updates.
HARMAN aims at ensuring that automakers have a complete solution to addressing connectivity, whether its communications between each other (Vehicle-to-Vehicle, or V2V) or to the infrastructure (Vehicle to Infrastructure/V2I). HARMAN’s suite of technologies are singularly focused on ensuring the driving experience remains safe and comfortable, thereby enabling drivers to concentrate fully on the driving task at hand.
“Connectivity is the backbone for tomorrow’s increasingly autonomous vehicles,” said Phil Eyler, executive vice president and president, Connected Car, HARMAN. “They may run without fuel, but they will not run without connectivity. HARMAN’s work with AT&T reflects a shared goal and a mutual commitment to developing next-generation connected car systems that enhance the driving experience.”
“Our aim is to accelerate and simplify the ability for equipment manufacturers to deliver advanced connected car experiences. Our Mobile Broadband Accelerator Program combined with HARMAN’s TCU solution helps us do just that,” said Cameron Coursey, vice president of Product Development – Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T.
