The MCU500 is designed to meet the needs of fleet operators who need a low-cost mobile control unit for the purposes of Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), vehicle telematics and the option of two-way data.

Suitable application areas are :

	Public Utilities – field engineer monitoring & job despatching
	Emergency Services – Police, Fire and Ambulance
	Fleet management – transport & logistics control
	High Value Goods tracking
	Vehicle Security and VIP guarding

The MCU500 is designed to interface to any general digital bearer, these being:

	Trunked Radio Control Channel
	Tetra Radio
	GSM Cellular services
	Future bearers include RAM and Satellite services

AVL Systems

The MCU500 uses a Trimble GPS receiver to provide location information. The well known and highly developed AVL engine from previous Thorcom AVL products is used to provide the basis for intelligent ‘rules based’ mobile originated AVL updates.

Up to 10 different sets of rules (or profiles) can be programmed into the MCU500 which allows a wide range of operation from transmitting AVL messages very frequently down to only once or twice daily, or even less. Polling the mobile, then, can be completely avoided – thus saving on messages, but polling operation is available should it ever be required.

Vehicle Telematics

The MCU500 has on-board I/O which allows for more sophisticated automatic operation, particularly when used in conjunction with AVL data. The MCU500 has:

	6 digital inputs - ground to activate types
	Single channel pulse counter function on first input
	2 relay outputs 10A SPCO change-over contacts
	1 Analogue input : 0 - 2.5 VDC

The digital inputs can be connected to any simple switch device, such as operator or loading door switches, emergency panic switches, or vehicle alarms. The pulse counter function is designed for interfacing to other in-vehicle systems such as a Tachograph or gearbox mounted odometer.

The automotive change over relays are designed for controlling any external device, typical uses might be to control the power supply to other on-board devices, such as the radio, or in-vehicle devices such as an anti-theft device or fuel pump. The analogue input is intended for measuring other on-board signals, typical uses might be load temperature, or axle weight.

By combining AVL information and vehicle telematics, some very useful additional automatic applications can be implemented, where a user terminal might have been previously thought of as necessary. Examples of this might include an automatic delivery system where ‘loading door opened’ are combined together with ‘current location and time’ data to update a host application. Lone-worker systems can be implemented using a combination of location, a door or status switch and a software timer.

The MCU500 has three externally available serial ports allocated as follows:

	2 x PC AT type serial RS232 interfaces
	1 x RS422/485 differential serial interface.

The primary role of the serial interfaces is to allow a mobile data terminal to be attached as part of the vehicle fit, or at any subsequent time when an upgrade is required. Additionally, the serial ports allow the unit to be configured using a personality programmer, or communicate to other on-board devices such as ticket machines, passenger information displays or specialist telemetry devices.

The MCU500 has a built-in high efficiency switched mode power supply with a wide 10-35 V DC input range to allow it to work with 12 or 24 volt vehicle power systems. The MCU500 also combines a power on sense input (usually ignition) with a programmable delay auto shut down facility. When working from batteries and/or solar power this auto shut-down facility can be used in conjunction with a timed self-power up to enable the MCU500 to enter ‘sleep mode’ for extended periods.

The MCU500 can be configured for use by using a Windows configuration tool, the Modem Personality Programmer. This allows all the user parameters to be selected to suit the application, and then programmed into the MCU500’s non-volatile memory.