Connected Car: technologies, issues, future trends

The connected car -a vehicle capable of accessing to the Internet, of communicating with smart devices as well as other cars and road infrastructures, and of collecting real-time data from multiple sources- is likely to play a fundamental role in the foreseeable Internet Of Things. In a context ruled by very strong competitive forces, a significant amount of car manufacturers and software and hardware developers have already embraced the challenge of providing innovative solutions for new generation vehicles. Today’s cars are asked to relieve drivers from the most stressful operations needed for driving, providing them with interesting and updated entertainment functions. In the meantime, they have to comply to the increasingly stringent standards about safety and reliability. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the possibilities offered by connected functionalities on cars and the associated technological issues and problems, as well as to enumerate the currently available hardware and software solutions and their main features.