Qualcomm Introduces Car-to-Cloud Service

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Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, today introduced the new Qualcomm^® Car-to-Cloud Service, the company’s first offering of an integrated, secure connected-car services suite for Qualcomm^® Snapdragon^™Automotive Cockpit Platforms and Qualcomm^® Snapdragon^™ Automotive 4G and 5G Platforms. Leveraging the company’s broad set of technology assets, the Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service is designed to help automakers keep cockpit and telematics systems up-to-date, and future-proof vehicles by delivering the flexibility needed to activate features at any time, helping automakers to keep pace with consumer technology trends despite the traditional automotive product development cycles.  The Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service also provides automakers the opportunity to unlock new revenue streams throughout the lifecycle of a vehicle with over-the-air (OTA) updates, on-demand unlocking of features and pay-as-you-use services, as well as gather valuable vehicle and usage analytics. 

Helping our automotive customers meet the evolving needs of consumers, Qualcomm Technologies’ engineered the Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service with Soft SKU capability that allows for field-upgradeable chipsets to offer new functionality as performance requirements increase or new features become available.  This secure, chipset-enabled capability features flexibility to support on-demand features, mid-cycle performance boosts, regional customization and feature upgrades tailored for specific product segments from entry to premium.  Soft SKU also allows customers to develop on common hardware, thereby saving dedicated investments for multiple developments. Leveraging the Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Soft SKU empowers automakers to not only deliver a variety of customizable options for their consumers, but to also personalize features to offer rich and immersive in-vehicle experiences.

The new Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service supports actionable analytics and insights through data collection correlated from multiple sources at the edge empowering automakers to design unique experiences that are personalized for the driver, the passenger and the car.  Data from on-board application processors and operating systems, modem, location, vehicle system status and health and occupancy are designed to inform personalized user experience features at the individual or fleet level. The analytics also facilitates segmented bundled content, applications and services creating new potential revenue streams for automakers working with content providers. 

The service also facilitates a chipset-based security solution to provide trusted capabilities and feature management, secure provisioning and device attestation.  Additionally, the Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service is engineered to offer a global cellular connectivity capability to bootstrap initial service, or to provide airtime connectivity over the life of the vehicle.

“The Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service, when combined with our Snapdragon Automotive 4G and 5G Platforms, and our Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms, allows automakers and Tier 1 suppliers to address new expectations of the modern and discerning car owner who is used to flexible and continuously updating technologies, while also unlocking new features capabilities over the course of a vehicle’s lifetime,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service will provide automakers with an innovative solution to improve global connectivity, cost efficiency, offer a superior user experience, while creating the opportunity for new service revenue over the lifecycle of the vehicle.”

The new Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Platform is expected to be available in 2H of 2020.

Benefits of Qualcomm Car-to-Cloud Service

• Future Proof Design for Fast Deployment Timeframes: implement features now with the ability to upgrade throughout the lifetime of the vehicle; activate only when needed; opportunity to sell on-demand services to customers
• Cost Efficient Operation: cost-efficient connectivity services and over-the-air updates; recall/warranty management; pay as you use for hardware, software and services
• Actionable Insights: opportunity to receive insights about application and feature usage, make informed decisions based on monitoring hardware and feature usage
• New Services and Revenue Opportunities: new connected services; on-demand services for car sharing and Car as a Service (CaaS); and upsell opportunities after lease return
• Personalized User Experiences for Passengers: customers user-interface based on analytics; segmented bundled content, app and services creating new potential revenue streams
• Integrated Connectivity: global operators for bootstrap connectivity; regulation compliance and integration with local operators; and differentiate traffic for sponsored connectivity offerings
• Secure & attested communication: anchored by secured keys in Qualcomm® chipset hardware and car-to-cloud secured server infrastructure