I'm interested in seeing how far we can push the processing power once it's installed in the car and have quite a few ideas I'd like to work on with a view to implimenting. The main problem I envisage is communication with the device, since I'm assuming that ttyS0 has the control/upload/download software. It strikes me that some Ethernet options would be excellent, and one of the ideas I'm toying with is wireless LAN which would require a PCMCIA bus. Is it likely that we will be able to deploy PCMCIA (or other Ethernet devices) on the empeg car? Both offer fast flexible means for uploading MP3's.

Armed with Ethernet, PCMCIA and serial interfaces my ideas to-date include:
1) Wireless uploading of MP3's when it's parked in the garage
2) Wireless (GSM or radio) connectivity to car systems such as locks, ignition, climate control, convertible hood etc. The idea of being able to protect my car by requiring my SecurID authentication through the empeg car to allow it to be started appeals.
3) distributed.net client access to my nearest proxy
4) Connectivity to a GPS system to allow the display to be shared with current positional information
5) Climate monitoring hookup to report to the LCD the current ambient climate details (I know there's an on-board temperature guage)
6) Mobile 'phone monitoring to pause/mute tracks when the telephone rings
7) Important SMS messages (i.e. mail headers) could be flashed on the screen as they arrive

Is anyone else interested in these sorts of modifications? Are the empegs likely to support this sort of functionality in a future upgrade? Am I just mad?



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Christopher Sharp

The Wireless LAN and the GPS are quite popular ideas from people i've spoken with. What is distributred.net and how would you incorporate that? I read a little FAQ on their site, but it didn't tell me much.

Distributed.net is a distributed computing project. All that would be required is to install the software on the hd and have it load on bootup and a mechanism for the work to be transfered to and from the unit and the d.net servers. This could be done via TCP/IP easily or just a file transfer.

For sure we would have to have it display statsitcs to the VFD like keyrate blocks ready/done/etc

Keith

Keith Kemp

The USB port will prove to be quit useful for such modifications since I do not thing there are PCMIA slots on it. USB NICS and other devices exist.
Now just need to find a USB cell modem ;)



Keith Kemp

USB won't help you unfortunately: as the USB is to plug into a USB host (ie, a PC) it's a USB slave and can't talk to other USB slaves (eg: NICs, ZIPs, etc). You can't plug host-host without a converter box.

There's simply no room for PCMCIA in the unit, believe me. The display takes all of the height in the front, and behind this it's just too packed. The serial port (which docks with the car) *can* be used for things apart from the protocol, so you *can* run PPP to a cellular modem if you wanted to.

Hugo

I'd like to use the serial port to download pictures from my digital camera...

Imagine, no more problems with storage space when you are away from your computer. Just upload the pics into the empeg, and download them to your main computer when you get home..

I'd also like to be able to upload files from work to take home (But I assume that is blocked by the software to stop mp3's being moved around...)

This is possible - or you could use IrDA on the front to do it :)

The empeg isn't *designed* to be a general purpose file mover - the music database stores stuff in a custom music fashion - but this may be added later. Only a software upgrade, after all :)

Hugo

I'd love to use the Irda, but my camera doesn't have one... =)

This has probably been asked many times, but what kind of programmability will we have "out of the box"?

Thanks.. =)
Jazz

What about the possibility of implementing Compact Flash in the future? Much like what is being used on Digital Cameras and PDA's? The size is much more compact than the PCMCIA/PC Card format and the types of functionality that people are looking for is there (xircom makes an ethernet card for compact flash slots). A nice feature would be copying additional music to compact flash and just add it to the unit when I was ready to leave. One way of overcoming the size limitation would be implementing a majority of the electronics into the unit and having an extension that could be mounted elsewhere within the vehicle (like some of the older remotes for cd players) and a more extreme case would be forgoing the additional hard drive and adding the necessary electronics there (perhaps as an option to the additional HD space for the future?)
Just a thought...

I personally would like to see the empeg folks stick to a focus on what the unit was designed for - mobile MP3 playback. The rest of the items are already avaiable on the AutoPC (www.autopc.com) and you could link the two together.

David

I think that it's a complete waste to have all this processing power available in the empeg to just play MP3's, and I'm sure others will agree..

The whole point of the empeg to me is a mobile Linux box, that has both high quality audio output (looking forward to hearing mine.. =) and expandability (From a software point of view)..

I don't know much about the AutoPC, except that it has voice recognition (surely of limited use if the music is loud) and runs windows CE (I'm not going to touch this argument.. =)

Besides, most of the things mentioned here are things that us hackers want to do.. We are not expecting the empeg folks to develop more than the core stuff.. =)

I would really have liked to have seen a wireless WaveLAN connection, or just one PCMCIA type 1 slot - it's a shame it's not possible in the hardware.

On Hugo's original MPG home page, one of his wish list hits was wireless LAN; if only, if only.

I should add to this (for those that aren't quite used to the Linux way of thinking) that it was, of course, my intention to return any utilities for inclusion into future empeg releases as well as making them generally available for modification.

Perhaps, eventually, there can be a public enhancements project offering additional tweaks for the empeg - a bit like the mozilla.org project.

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Christopher Sharp

I have been at Bluetooth Conference London last month.
Hey, this upcomming wireless-cable replacement will be great! It runs up to 10m (500kbit/s asynchronous) and has some interesting profiles to make each device compatible to other ones. I recognised 3com-pilot people as well as Logitech (mices & keyboards) and Senheiser (hedsets) was there and 700 others ;-) at the exhibition I found ARM as an important Bluetooth pusher!

First Version will have some profiles: PPP, Headset (mono, voice quality two way) are the most interesting to EMPEG. It is free to join the BT SIG to get development information. http://www.bluetooth.com

Why do I write this? Bluetooth will be public available in about 1 Year in Mobile Phones and in devices like 3com Palm. Little later, I expect Notebooks will have Bluetooth as standard. A chipset will cost @1H2000 about $25, a module (small 1x3cm) will go for a little more (today one PCMCIA card costs $5000, it is not a joke).

Volks at EMPEG, think about that for your next generation, or as an extension for your free connector inside. Oh, I also have a hint: Bluetooth and iRDA are at higher layers very similar (some profiles are 1by1) because they work together: in the mean time you can use this iRDA physical interface you still have built in.

...in future, you only have to bring a device with needed skills near your net (10meter) and you will have it (eg. GPS receiver, Keyboard, 3comPilot as User Interface, SmartCards for user-profiles, cameras for image recording)... and all with one "interface" Bluetooth "NOT-PLUG AND PLAY"




Ruedi.Bruegger@Swisslan.ch

I've seen a lot of bluetooth stuff (I was contracting for Symbian over the last year or so) and we're looking into it :)

One problem is the antenna though, in that the empeg is a screened box, including the display. Not good for propogation...

Hugo

Symbian.. then you definitely know more about Bluetooth. But I was working for 7 years in Mircowave-Teconlogies (up to 60GHz).
And I tell you something about antenna: that's absolutely no problem even you have a sreened body.
I recognised some voices @ Conference, that goes in that direction= oh antenna-big problem and so (I was smileing inside me).

Eg. at the photographer of EMPEG I recognised a transparent plastic window at the front ;-). Place a good calculated peace of metal behind that window sheet, connect it to a inner conductor of coaxial cable (that guides Bluetooth 2.4Gig from Module to antenna) and you have a good transmission (probably you have to take in account thickness of plexy-glass and perhaps tune it).

Probably it is also possible to make a slot antenna: a small slot (ca 1mm with and lamda/2 lenght = 60 mm) and feed in the middle... (I'm actually to lazy to go to my libray to find out exactly sizes).

Keywords for some antennas are: patch antenna, slot antenna, dielectric antenna (high Epsilon = small mechanical sizes).

I WILL OFFER MY KNOWLEDGE IF SOMEONE HAVE AN ANTENNA PROBLEM RELATED TO EMPEG! (Probably not for free, probably I need a prototype (I will pay $1100) :-)



Ruedi.Bruegger@Swisslan.ch

The window on the front of the empeg has an embedded wire mesh shield for EMC, so it's not radio-transparent :(

A slot antenna might be the only way to go. Erk.

Hugo