MOST technology enables in-vehicle consumer devices such as DVD players, MP3 players, GPS systems, car phones and Bluetooth devices, among others, to work seamlessly as a homogeneous system rather than independent devices each requiring their own control. It does not only include the physical connection between devices, but also defines properties and methods for devices to interact with each other.
(See also MOST Cooperation web site http://www.mostcooperation.com/)

Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST®) defines the protocol, hardware, and software layers necessary to allow for transport of control, real-time, and packet data in an efficient and low cost way using a single medium. Current mediums in use (physical layer) are fiber optics and unshielded twisted pair cables (UTP). MOST supports various speed grades up to 150 Mbits/s.

The following chapters summarize the key advantages of MOST:

Ease of use

• Simple connectors
• No hum loops, low radiation, and high electromagnetic susceptibility
• Plug and play; self identifying devices with auto initialization
• Dynamically attachable and re-configurable devices
• Virtual network management including channel allocation, system monitoring addressing and power management

Wide application range

• Applications from a few kbits/s to several dozens of Mbits/s
• High degree of data integrity with low jitter
• Support of asynchronous and synchronous data transfer
• Support of up to 64 devices in one ring
• Simultaneous transmission of multiple data streams such as control, packet and real-time information
• Devices can be composed of multiple functions
• Low overhead due to embedded network management
  

Synchronous bandwidth

• Synchronous channels provide guaranteed bandwidth with no buffering required
• 25, 50, or 150 Mbits/s synchronous data throughput

Asynchronous bandwidth

• Variable asynchronous data throughput
• Up to 150 Mbits/s asynchronous data
• Dedicated control channel

Flexibility

• Wide range of real-time channel sizes and packet sizes
• Remote operation and flow control
• Real time transmission and predictable delay
• Transparent transport of various protocols (e.g. TCP / IP)
• Protocol independent and object-oriented

Synergy with consumer and PC industry

• Operates with or without PC
• Consistent with PC streaming and plug and play standards
• Simple and powerful connectivity through MediaLB interchip bus

Low implementation cost

• Suitable for implementation in cost sensitive peripherals
• Optimized for use with several physical layers
• Uses standardized connectors and media e.g., low cost plastic optical fiber or unshielded twisted pair
• Highly integrated system-on-a-chip IC implementations available

MOST technology includes the software interfaces that allow applications running on different devices to communicate and exchange information. It also defines a transport mechanism that sets up a link for streaming data between devices. This link requires very low overhead so that most of the network bandwidth is available for the actual data that needs to be transmitted. As a result of this minimal overhead, the network efficiency is very high.

MOST also defines hardware interfaces needed to communicate. By using e.g., fiber optics, the network infrastructure cost is reduced. In addition the synchronous nature of the hardware interface reduces costs by eliminating the need for buffering and signal processing at each node. It also eliminates the need for processing packet information required by other networking technologies that transport streaming data within these packets. The ring topology results in the lowest number of connections needed to implement the network. Other topologies are supported.