Media Oriented Systems Transport

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MOST (an acronym for Media Oriented Systems Transport) is a networking standard intended for interconnecting multimedia components in automobiles and other vehicles. It differs from existing vehicle bus technologies in that it's intended to be carried largely on an optical fiber bearer, thus providing a bus-based networking system at bit-rates far higher than available on previous vehicle-bus technologies.

The MOST specification defines all seven layers of the ISO/OSI Reference Model for data communication. The MOST network often employs a ring topology but star configurations and double rings for critical applications are possible and may include up to 64 devices or nodes. A plug and play feature enables easy adding and removing of devices. A Timing Master is one of the nodes which continuously feeds data frame into the ring or acts as the gate for data . The preamble or packet header repeatedly syncronizes the rest of the nodes called Timing Slaves. The total bandwidth (including streaming data and packed data) is approximately 23 M Baud. 60 channels, 15 MPEG1 channels. are available to the user for configuration.

MOST development is done by The MOST Cooperation, an industry-standards body consisting of automotive manufacturers (including Ford, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, and General Motors), tier-1 automotive electrical suppliers (including Infineon Technologies, Delphi E&S (former Delco), Denso (a division of Toyota), and Bosch), and audio-video manufacturers (including Sony, Philips, Linn Products, and Motorola). MOST is a registered trademark of SMSC. The MOST Cooperation has authorization to use it free of charge.