35年前，影迷们在电影《华尔街》中看到Michael Douglas站在海滩上，耳朵上戴着一块看起来像砖头的东西。1987年，无线移动通信主要局限于富裕阶级，这类设备就和Douglas的手机一样，又大又笨重，但仅提供语音服务。

快进到2022年，人们携带多台具有能够持续提供高速数据连接的设备已经非常普遍，包括智能手机、平板电脑和智能手表等。现在，大多数新车出厂时便自带网联功能。然而，与消费类电子产品往往每隔几年更换一次不同，汽车通常可以使用20年或更长时间——这可能会给其连接性能带来一定挑战。

Douglas当时给他年轻门徒们打电话的模拟蜂窝网络早已关闭，2G网络也关闭了。运营商现在甚至已经开始关闭3G网络，以重耕无线电频谱，扩大5G覆盖范围。当模拟网络在2007年关闭时，通用汽车公司没有为早期使用OnStar远程通信的客户提供升级路径。几年后，当2G开始衰落时，日产为第一代Leaf电动车的车主提供了升级服务。当时，受影响的客户数量很小，以至于大多数OEM都认为进行升级在经济上是不可行的。

随着网联汽车的数量稳步增加，现在情况已经大不相同了，越来越多的用户已经开始订阅使用远程通信服务。插电式车辆数量的不断增加使得互联通信比过去更加重要；这对于管理、监控电池充电和预处理至关重要。所以，这一次大多数汽车制造商已经为大批量的车型开发了升级方案。

例如，斯巴鲁和特斯拉正在为其品牌车辆进行4G LTE无线通信模块的升级。奥迪等部分公司，已经与Mojio等公司合作开发了一个系统，该系统通过车载诊断（OBD）端口连接，并与车载软件集成以维护先前提供的服务。但是通常情况下，这些升级需要花费消费者数百美元，这些导致用户对这一功能升级的积极性并不是很高。

许多OEM寄希望于通过提供网联服务，提出了未来十年将收入翻一番的目标。因此，为了确保车辆在其使用全生命周期内，或者大部分时间内都能保持其互联通信功能的可用性，比以往任何时候都要重要。OTA软件升级是网联化的另一个关键驱动因素，使车辆能够实现启用新功能，并进行安全修复。在中国的许多车辆已经配备了5G网络功能，在接下来的几个月里，新的宝马iX将是第一个在北美配备5G连接的车型，奥迪最近宣布将在2024年的车辆上推出5G。

It’s been 35 years since moviegoers saw Michael Douglas standing on a beach, holding what looked like a brick to his ear, in the film Wall Street. In 1987, wireless mobile communication was mostly limited to affluent customers. The hardware, like Douglas’s phone, was large and clunky. Service was limited to voice mode.

Fast-forward to 2022 and it’s not uncommon for people to carry multiple devices with continuous high-speed data connectivity, including a smartphone, tablet and watch. And most new vehicles now come from the factory with connectivity. However, unlike consumer electronics that tend to be replaced every few years, vehicles can often last two decades or more – and that can pose a problem for connectivity.

The analog cellular network that enabled Douglas to call his young protege has long since been shut down, as have the 2G digital networks. Carriers now have started switching off 3G to repurpose the radio spectrum to expand 5G coverage. When the analog network was turned off in 2007, General Motors had no upgrade path available for customers with early OnStar telematics. Several years later, when 2G started to fade, Nissan offered upgrades to owners of first-generation Leaf EVs. At the time, the number of affected customers was small enough that most OEMs didn’t find it economically viable to engineer an upgrade.

With the number of connected vehicles increasing steadily and more customers now actually subscribing to telematics services, the situation now is quite different. The growing number of plug-in vehicles makes connectivity even more important than in the past; it’s critical for managing and monitoring battery charging and preconditioning. Most automakers this time have developed upgrade solutions for at least higher-volume models.

For example, Subaru and Tesla are replacing communication modules in their vehicles with those that have a 4G LTE radio. Others, such as Audi, have partnered with companies like Mojio for a system that connects via the onboard diagnostics (OBD) port and integrates with the in-vehicle software to maintain the services previously provided. In most cases, these upgrades are costing customers several hundred dollars – and many are likely to think twice before committing.

With many OEMs aiming to double revenues in the next decade, mostly thanks to connected services, it’s more important than ever to ensure a vehicle can retain its connectivity for most, if not all, of its useful life. Over-the-air (OTA) software updates are another key driver for connectivity to enable both new features and security fixes. Numerous vehicles in China already are equipped with 5G connectivity. In the next few months, the new BMW iX will be the first to have it in North America. And Audi recently announcing it will launch 5G on 2024 model year vehicles.

With three generations of wireless communications technology now obsolete, it’s past time for OEMS to make sure they design in an easy upgrade path. Unfortunately, software-defined radios haven’t yet reached a level of maturity to make them viable for vehicle connectivity. That means hardware will need to be changed, probably at least once in a vehicle’s life. 5G is just arriving, but engineers are well along in development of 6G. Designing vehicles for an easy data-modem swap should be a top priority for every vehicle engineering team going forward.