Honda Motor Co Ltd (HMC), NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI): The Company Wants Cars to Talk to Each Other

“Roadlink” will be the branded named of the new NXP and Cohda technology used for marketing a total car-to-X communication and security system for on-board units and road-side units in the intelligent transportation system of the future. Automotive-ready modules based on Roadlink are currently being developed by companies such as lesswire AG in Germany. The first C2X module from lesswire is expected to be available in 2015.

Cart before the horse?
Because it’s a consortium that’s developing the system, it will become a complete end-to-end solution right from the get-go and avoiding many of the chicken-or-egg scenarios that have plagued a number of technological advances, such as natural gas cars: Do you develop the refueling infrastructure first so that cars have a place to fill up, or do you make the cars first to prove there is demand to necessitate the expense to build the infrastructure?

Car-to-X has the potential to create vehicles that are more than simply passive receptacles through which information passes, but rather part of an active, holistic network where the very air around it is alive with information flowing back and forth. Maybe they should just call it SkyNet.

The article NXP Semiconductors Wants Cars to Talk to Each Other originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey owns shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems and NXP Semiconductors.

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