Automotive engineering has brought in advanced concepts in today’s auto industries. Cars are now installed with 8- to 16- to 32-bit processors, with thoughts of introducing the state-of-art processor technology in the very near future.

The proven technology of dual core processors, bring in speed and faster computing power, with a lower clock speed, hence consuming less power. This would mean less heat generation. In modern information technology systems, dual core processors have already created a mark, with thoughts going on for multi-core processors to be soon introduced in the market.

In the past, auto manufacturers have used dual-core processors in automotive engineering, but the thoughts are fast changing with applications taking a new turn. It is understood that some auto manufacturers is contemplating using triple-core processors in vehicles, and is also working with groups to implement quad-core processor systems.

There are many areas in automotive engineering that have notable application that require the performance of dual-core processors. The most important areas of application are fuel saving, and emission reductions, with diagnosis of safety management and transformation of hardware based functions to systems based on software.

With regards to the transformation from single-core units to dual-core would be simpler than, if this change was required to be made from a 16-bit system to a 32-bit processor. There would have been requirement for wide changes in the software making it suitable to run on a 32-bit system. As for the transformation from single-core to dual-core, the changes would be simpler, without having any major re-writes.

Cars are now fitted with distributed systems, one of them being the distributed control of the car suspensions, which provide a much smoother ride along with superior road holding. Today, the modern car is equipped with dozens of computers, to provide balanced performance if its engine, control of fuel consumption, and emission reduction.
There are cars fitted with shark fin shaped antennas on the top, which provide entertainment in the form of satellite radio, GPS, and cellular networks.

Today, automotive engineering has provided the knowledge of the application of general purpose computers in vehicles, but the disadvantage is that, these are not re-programmable. It is often wondered as to why the cars really need general purpose computer systems.

To explain matters simply, many of the existing functions in the vehicles are being extended today through use of on-board general purpose computers, which has provided large benefits regarding many of the functions that we usually find in a car.
More-over, computers today makes you avail the features in a car that could not be thought of in the past. During 1980?s there were strong feeling about having a PC at home, though people did not know why they need them. Today, every home has a computer and rightly so.

General purpose computers in cars bring you the modern advantage of having applications where you have Wi-Fi enabled audio system, download mp3 music and e-books, or get your email and have it read to you as you drive. One day, you will be able to share your radio system with other drivers, keep a full GPS log of your travels, and perhaps record public shows of your interest.
There are future applications to come, with the concept taking shape everyday in implementation of general purpose computers in your car.

Source: ThinkEngineering