Engineering news
The “Towards 5G” tests hint at huge opportunities for connected mobility, as the speed and larger data capacity of the technology shows promise for more than just faster data connections. 5G technology is a multi-connectivity platform that converges devices and services, which could develop even more enhanced connectivity when combined with C-V2X.
C-V2X capabilities are designed to connect vehicles to each other (V2V), to pedestrians (V2P), roadway infrastructure (V2I) and networks (V2N). The technology is meant to compliment other vehicle sensor technologies, such as LIDAR, radars and cameras, to improve predictability of the car’s surroundings.
It also allows for a 360° non-line of sight awareness - at blind intersections, for example - to enhance safety for autonomous vehicles. 5G could further help "bring reliability and bandwidth" around the vehicle's immediate vicinity, says Mark Boyadjis, manager of automotive analysis and research at IHS Markit. "Cloud connectivity enables it to see further ahead - in front of the car, around the next corner, 10 miles forward - for better granularity and context."
The technology, that has been tested in an experimental network, shows improved latency and high throughput performance by using a high-resolution video stream between two vehicles, demonstrating reactivity to show real time event notification.
Other network features include a radio access network configured for vehicle-to-network-to-vehicle (V2N2V) communications, with an average delay of 17μs, compared to 30-60μs in standard LTE networks, at a vehicle speed of 100 km/h. These results were obtained on the 2.6 GHz frequency band, delivering a 100 Mbit/s performance.
Connected vehicles could not only provide physical safety for drivers and pedestrians, but users could also experience improved cybersecurity within their vehicles, protecting their cloud-based data.
“Integral electrical architectures will be built with cybersecurity in mind,” says Colin Bird, senior automotive analyst at IHS Markit. “This will isolate safety critical systems, such as propulsion, braking and steering from security critical systems that handle personal or financial data, such as infotainment software features and services.”
Bird also expects that 179 million vehicles will be enabled with connected car firewalls by 2023.
The next steps of the “Towards 5G” initiative will focus on prioritising intelligent transportation system (ITS) vehicular traffic to improve isolation while experiencing other mobile broadband traffic in the vehicle.
The initiative will also help to assess how C-V2X with 5G features will be designed to support advanced applications, including traffic flow optimisation, improved safety and automated driving.