Connectivity & mobility
Altran Praxis has long been active in the fields of connectivity and mobility. In particular, it has delivered products and technology for
automotive in-car systems, mobile phones and end-to-end connectivity. This product output has covered the following:
- Mobile phone based navigation.
- Professional connected services such as car insurance and after-theft car management.
- In-car integration of connected services through mobile devices.
Praxis has used its experience in these domains to develop its Informed Mobility approach to connectivity and mobility.
What is informed mobility?
In contrast to simple mobile connectivity, Informed Mobility is about delivering the right function and data to the end user at the right time, with appropriate precision and in a manner that is usable to the end-user’s mobile, changing context. This approach, when applied to a domain or service, starts by asking a number of questions such as:
- Is the connectivity support reliable?
- Is continuity of service across devices required?
- Is the data real-time or static?
- Is the service or data critical?
Depending on the answer to these and other questions, an end-to-end architecture and detailed descriptions of user interaction can be created that drive the development of a system which best suits the end-user need and context.
Which main technologies are relevant?
Praxis believes that a strong approach to Informed Mobility needs to be transport, technology and protocol neutral. This means using an appropriate level of abstraction and tooling to be independent of underlying technologies or protocols. Within this context Praxis has worked with, and integrated within systems, technologies and protocols such as:
- Bluetooth, USB.
- GSM/GPRS/UMTS, WiFi.
- HTTP(s), SMTP, IMAP.
- Web Services technologies such as SOAP, and WSDL.
- RSS.
Example projects
- After-theft management system for COBRA telematics.
- Connected mobile navigation system.
- Integration of Web Services from mobile devices into cars for large automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
- Integration of Bluetooth/USB/GPRS hub for a large automotive OEM.
- Creation of back-end server technology for integrating diverse services into a navigation system for a large OEM.
Innovation
Praxis believes Informed Mobility is a key area in its strategy and is investing in
innovation in this domain. The following projects are currently running or under construction:
- Multimodal navigation: an end-to-end solution that provides users with the ability to plan journeys across different types of transport chosen to optimise the route based on user preferences. These can reflect time, environmental impact, tourism or cost. In addition the delivery of the plan allows a mobile client to provide guidance to the end-user including real-time updates and route modification.
- Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): this project aims to integrate car-borne systems into intelligent infrastructure and traffic management. In particular Praxis is looking at the appropriate architecture to support the high-integrity aspects of this problem.
- Home-based management of those with ongoing illnesses and the elderly through the use of connected medical devices, home hub and central health management services.
How is informed mobility delivered?
Praxis can deliver its expertise in the following ways:
- Consulting on architecture, use cases and connectivity technology.
- Innovation and prototyping.
- Turnkey project delivery.
- Licensed technology components.