Cars could soon become Wi-Fi hotspots if a tie-up between a wireless chip maker and an in-car systems firm bears fruit.
Marvell has teamed with Harman Automotive to build a wireless hotspot in to the 2010 Audi A8.
Called MMH, the Wi-Fi access point will support up to eight devices.
It uses standard 802.11 WPA2 authentication and data encryption mechanisms to provide security.
Earlier this year, Marvell proposed that mobile operators could relieve 3G network congestion by off-loading network traffic to Wi-Fi.
Mobile devices using Marvell’s Wi-Fi technologies are designed to authenticate subscribers based on their SIM cards to automatically access operator controlled Wi-Fi public and private hotspots.
There are also Wi-Fi Access Points using authentication to enable operators to divert traffic for optimised access to the public Internet or mobile core networks.
According to Weili Dai, Marvell's co-founder and v-p and general manager of the consumer and computing business, this is an example of using “always-on technology to bring the car fully into the broader connected ecosystem”.
See also: Marvell targets wireless chip sales in UK