The combination of wireless communications technology with location systems such as GPS opens unlimited possibilities for vehicle remote management applications. Smart allocation of resources, routing, dispatch, on-board information and security: the efficiency of all major functions of a VRM system can be greatly improved thanks to cellular communication.

Wavecom has been working with developers of Vehicle remote management devices for more than a decade, and can offer some particular benefits to Vehicle remote management ystems developers:

• Quick and easy integration and development: The Fastrack Supreme is a pre-certified plug-and-play wireless solution which will help you shorten your time to market.
• Easy GPS integration: The Wavecom Companion GPS solution eases the integration of the GPS functionalities with their GSM/GPRS Wireless CPU’s by offering a ready-made library as an Open AT Plug-In.
• Reduce operating costs: Wavecom's Intelligent Device Services enable you to remotely monitor and securely upgrade the software of your product, in addition to the entire Wavecom embedded Open AT® Software.

Architecture of a vehicle remote management system

The traditional way to build a wireless VRM solution was to integrate a wireless modem into an existing system. This approach generally yielded a multi-processor architecture made up of a host processor (external microcontroller) carrying out the application execution and interfacing with a set of external peripherals (sensors, buses, displays etc.), a wireless modem which also included a processor, and a GPS module.

A more architecturally efficient, economically competitive solution can be obtained by adopting a Wireless CPU® with communications capability, onto which the complete software application of the VRM system can be embedded. The schematic below shows the architecture of such a solution, with the programmable Wireless CPU® natively executing the application software while simultaneously managing the wireless communication. In this approach, the Wireless CPU® is the core CPU supporting and managing the features for GPS location, CAN connectivity and others.

The Fastrack Supreme features an open-standard expansion card interface, enabling you to add additional IO connectivity or features like GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee and more. Use Wavecom expansion cards or develop your own – available cards include additional IOs, USB and GPS.