INRIX TPEG Connect™ Optimizes Delivery and Reduces Costs of Providing Dynamic Traffic Info to Connected Vehicles and Devices

KIRKLAND, Wash., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- INRIX®, the leading provider of traffic and driver services, introduced TPEG Connect, a unique application of the Transport Protocol Experts Group (TPEG) standard that significantly reduces costs to drivers and vehicle OEMs for delivering traffic and travel information to connected vehicles and mobile devices.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20060424/SFM077LOGO-b)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060424/SFM077LOGO-b)

INRIX TPEG Connect provides automakers and navigation application providers with the ability to optimize data payloads and connectivity for delivering richer real-time and predictive traffic flow, traffic incident information and other connected driver services like weather, electric vehicle services and fuel prices. Based upon the TPEG format, TPEG Connect delivers this dynamic information using TPEG over IP (over the Internet), removing the significant constraints of traditional traffic broadcast delivery formats such as RDS-TMC.

"With TPEG Connect, INRIX is once again delivering a first to market technology innovation ready for customers to take into production today," said INRIX Chief Technology Officer Craig Chapman. "By readying the standard for use over IP, INRIX TPEG Connect removes key technical and commercial hurdles for our customers accelerating the delivery of next generation traffic applications and driver services."

In testing since last year, INRIX TPEG Connect provides delta support that can reduce data payloads by up to 50 percent on each message request. In turn, this unique delivery method can help OEMs and consumers save on connectivity costs by ensuring only the most location-relevant real-time information is delivered to the vehicle or the consumer's mobile device -- particularly across Europe where pre-paid data plans are the norm and data roaming fees can be exorbitant. As more data-intensive applications become ubiquitous in the car and across a wide array of smartphones, portable navigation devices (PNDs) and tablet computers, optimizing for the delivery of only the most location-relevant information becomes critical.

Originally designed for digital broadcast networks, INRIX has adapted TPEG for use in connected vehicles and mobile devices using cellular data networks.  As a central enabling technology for next generation traffic services, TPEG was developed over the last decade within the TPEG Forum (a standardization body supported by the European Broadcasting Union) and is ISO/CEN certified.   INRIX's TPEG Connect covers all key aspects of processing traffic and travel data including:

• Authentication: Determines the device over TCP/IP and ensures that the device is authorized to receive the data requested.
• Encoding/decoding:  Codes the TPEG binary protocol or TPEGml into a set of high-level objects representing the message's semantics.  Efficient filtering reduces system resource requirements.
• Data Management:  Controls the creation, updating and deletion of TPEG messages; Manages an efficient in-memory message database that always accurately mirrors the latest traffic information.
• Smart Traffic Information Retrieval:  Higher level application components can easily query the message database for selecting traffic information that is actually relevant in the application context using spatial, temporal or semantic criteria to support location-based and personalized driver services.
• Data Presentation & Downstream Notification:  Features API provisions for integrating with other client-side components requiring notification about new, updated, or deleted traffic and driver services information.
• Monitoring:  Continuously monitors and analyzes the status of the message database in real-time.

About INRIX

INRIX® is a leading provider of highly accurate traffic and driver services, with more than 100 customers and industry partners including the Ford Motor Company, TomTom, MapQuest, Microsoft, NAVIGON AG, TeleNav, I-95 Corridor Coalition, Tele Atlas, deCarta, ITIS Holdings, TCS, Telmap, ANWB and ADAC. INRIX's strategic partnership with Clear Channel Radio and Total Traffic Network extends the delivery of the highest quality data and broadest coverage available for personal navigation, mapping, telematics and other location-based service applications in the car, online and on mobile devices.

INRIX Traffic Services leverage sophisticated statistical analysis techniques, originally developed by Microsoft Research, to aggregate and enhance traffic-related information from hundreds of public and private sources, including traditional road sensors and the company's unique network of over 2.5 million GPS-enabled vehicles and mobile devices. INRIX delivers real-time and historical traffic information today for 20 countries across North America and Europe. To experience the traffic technology revolution behind the next generation of navigation and location-based service applications, visit www.INRIX.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/INRIX.

SOURCE INRIX