New report released to support vehicle to infrastructure connectivity deployment
5GAA, a global cross-industry consortium working to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transportation services, commissioned Ricardo to develop the report to help improve understanding of the costs, challenges and opportunities of different communication technology approaches to Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) use cases.
V2I is not a new technology consideration, with research and development activities related to connected vehicle applications ongoing for over two decades. However, there is now growing momentum for wider scale deployment of communication technologies in both vehicles and road infrastructure.
To date deployment activities have been fragmented and relatively slow, due to continued emphasis on research, no common vision of communication technologies and market uncertainty, making it challenging for most stakeholders to develop suitable business cases.
To help support a greater understanding of financial viability of the communication approaches implemented in the EU and US V2I market, Ricardo transport and mobility experts, supported by technical experts from Roke Manor Research, analysed a range options which include the use of a pure cellular network system and using a combination of the cellular network with direct communication interfaces via the radio spectrum.
Using outputs from extensive research and engagement with key ecosystem players, the study weighs up strengths, weaknesses and complementarity of the different communications technologies in terms of their technical performance and costs, aligning them with the different use cases. For example, the cost analysis highlights that a pure cellular deployment approach in Europe and US is 40-45% lower cost compared with deployments that include direct communication roadside units.
To recognise the opportunities and benefits identified, Ricardo’s experts have made a number of recommendations that include increased cooperation and communication of roadmaps between vehicle manufacturers, central government, road operators and cellular technology providers – in particular with the consideration of interoperability of technology solutions. Central government are also identified as playing a key role through effective implementation of financial instruments to leverage private sector investment and support wider deployment.
Denis Naberezhnykh, Ricardo’s transport technical director commented: “Increased communication and connectivity between vehicle and infrastructure have the potential to create significant benefit, not only to the user of the vehicle, but also through wide-ranging societal benefits that will positively impact the economy, community mobility and the environment. The current fragmentation of technical approaches and stakeholders has the potential to significantly slow V2I market adoption and so we’re proud to develop this report, on behalf of 5GAA, to create greater understanding of financial viability and how that aligns with technology choices, as well as to help identify where increased collaboration is needed”.
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