Tester tackles MOST automotive communications

The Optimo-100 is a tester for the new MOST (Media Orientated Systems Transport) automotive entertainment and control bus.

This week at Productronica Schaffner will release the Optimo-100 tester for the new MOST (Media Orientated Systems Transport) automotive entertainment and control bus.

MOST is the emerging common standard for the future of automotive multimedia networking.

It will provide data transfer and control functions, for the interior and exterior of vehicles, at data speeds up to 14.4Mbit/s and will be able to interconnect simple devices such as microphones and loudspeakers to the latest satellite navigation and DVD systems.

MOST is supported by 20 car manufacturers including Audi, BMW, Ford, Jaguar and Mercedes Benz and 50 component manufacturers such as Agilent, Motorola, Philips, Nokia and Bosch who came together in 1998 to form the "MOST Co-operation", an open alliance of companies interested in "real connectivity and networked intelligence" in automotive systems.

The Schaffner Optimo-100 has been developed to measure the polymeric optical fibres (POF) used by MOST and test the optical data transmission between devices connected to it.

It is intended for use by system developers, industry, automotive component suppliers, industry and automotive OEMs.

Optimo-100 has four modes of operation: repeater mode - where Optimo replaces a device in the MOST ring allowing it to monitor and act as a repeater for MOST data packages; miniring - where Optimo is used to test and exercise a single MOST device; and finally two measurement functions - lead-single and lead-dual - for measuring the attenuation of the polymeric optical fibre network and fault finding.

Schaffner Marketing Manager Andrew Kotas comments: "The introduction of this unique automotive tester puts Schaffner at the leading edge of automotive developments and fully complements our work with major car manufacturers on EMC, sensor and control systems".

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