Last March, the Commonwealth of Virginia held a live trial of a new driver and pedestrian safety concept that allows near-real-time notification of roadway hazards through 5G and edge technologies. The trial was one of the three conducted internationally by a historic public-private collaboration, organised by the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) and eight member companies representing leading technology companies from around the globe. A related European live trial was conducted in 2021 in the city of Turin, Italy. The North American live trial, on the other hand, was conducted on the Virginia Smart Road operated by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg, VA. It was the first of its kind in North America.

To find out more, you can now watch this video explaining the tested concept:

Ubiquitous connectivity is an essential prerequisite to achieving a full-scale digital transformation of the automotive sector. Connectivity challenges and how the seamless integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial network solutions can foster high-capacity global connectivity were at the heart of the Connectivity for the Car of the Future Symposium, hosted by the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA).

Berlin (Germany), 16 May 2022. The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) and the European Space Agency discussed the crucial role of ubiquitous connectivity and the opportunities for space technologies to offer future solutions for the automotive sector during its “Connectivity for the Car of the Future Symposium.”

Today, over 200 million connected vehicles worldwide are equipped with applications sharing hazard and traffic warnings on the road. The automotive sector is undergoing a significant transformation: from a focus on vehicle performance to a focus on a fully digital, tailor-made digital experience, and customers increasingly expect a fully connected car. Ubiquitous connectivity is an essential prerequisite to achieving a full-scale digital transformation of the automotive sector. Ensuring the network’s reliability can be a challenge, particularly in rural or remote areas that still experience no or poor band coverage, and non-terrestrial networks can have a crucial role in deploying hybrid connectivity solutions for the car of the future.

To explore the connectivity challenges and how space solutions can support the car industry in connected mobility, the 5G Automotive Association organised a Symposium in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). What does the future car look like? Which connectivity and business models are needed to enable? What is the place of space in the mix? These were some of the questions addressed by industry representatives of car manufacturers, connectivity providers, mobile network operators, satellite connectivity providers and decision-makers.

Satellite connectivity can complement terrestrial solutions in white spots and in case of outages and congestion. In this sense, Europe must accelerate the development of assets and capacities in this field to compete globally, provide the appropriate solutions for the automotive sector and fill in any potential gaps. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that all the stakeholders and their respective innovative roadmaps are aligned, as highlighted by Joseph Aschbacher, Director-General of ESA, in his welcome messagefor the event. As such, the car industry will be able to make the most of cutting-edge developments in the connectivity domain.

“We are pleased to collaborate with 5GAA to promote and build the connected car ecosystem of the future. Vehicles are rapidly becoming fully connected devices and drive investments into new-generation connectivity. Satellites and space-based technologies are key assets to complete terrestrial networks, build smart and hybrid systems and offer ubiquitous, secure, and sustainable connectivity. We look forward to continuing this intense exchange with the automotive value chain to join forces and build a truly European connected car architecture,” added Elodie Viau, Director, Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Directorate, ESA.

During the Symposium, car manufacturers and tier-1 suppliers discussed the mobility-related technology innovations, opportunities, requirements, and challenges, highlighting the crucial role of ubiquitous connectivity for the automotive sector and the increasing number of use-cases already developed by the automotive industry for both private and commercial vehicles.

Including non-terrestrial connectivity in the mix will bring many benefits, such as extending high connectivity to rural areas at a comparatively low cost and enabling digital services and autonomous driving applications. However, space solutions need to be integrated with the existing terrestrial solutions, as they will not replace them. In addition, the seamless integration of antennas technology on the car, and the smooth handover between the networks, are just some of the challenges that still need to be addressed. Therefore, speakers pointed out that these solutions need to be included in the 3GPP standardisation system, which is currently the integrational connectivity path, defining the terrestrial connectivity requirements.

Finally, all the stakeholders engaged in a lively discussion to map how the whole ecosystem can work together to address the connectivity challenges and develop targeted R&D, demonstrators and pilots and expand them into mature business models and strategic partnerships. Indeed, to enable cross-border coordination and integration of terrestrial and satellite connectivity solutions, the cooperation and alignment of various players and investments will be essential. In this area, ESA aims to provide the European automotive sector with the necessary support and expertise to maximise its positive social, economic and environmental impact and develop competitive car connectivity solutions.

“Use cases and requirements are already there, and ubiquitous connectivity will enable their full-scale deployment. Satellite solutions can play a crucial role in achieving this,” concluded Johannes Springer, Director General, 5GAA. “It is crucial to ensure the greatest alignment and cooperation between all the stakeholders involved. Let’s continue working together to bring the 3GPP standards to the satellite solutions and seamlessly integrate them with the terrestrial networks to provide solutions for the car of the future.”

Below the presentations showcased during the first session of the event:

Andreas Schaller, V2X Technology Strategy, Robert Bosch Mobility Solutions

Olaf Eckart, Senior Expert Cooperations R&D, Industry Customers, BMW

Jörg Plechinger, Head of Mobile Connectivity Plattform / Car2X,  AUDI AG

Susanne Schulz, Head of Department Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility,  Autobahn GmbH

On May 12, the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) will organise a workshop on “C-V2X: Ready to Deploy”, bringing together infrastructure owners and operators and the broader ecosystem stakeholders to disclose the benefits of C-V2X for traffic safety. The workshop will be followed in the afternoon by a series of live C-V2X technology demonstrations.

After more than two years of virtual meetings, the 5G Automotive Association will be back to a face-to-face meeting week, which will take place from May 9 to 13 in Atlanta, GA, and allow 5GAA members to catch up on the latest development of the association and its activities.

As part of the week, on May 12, from 9 AM to 12 PM EDT, 5GAA will hold a workshop on “C-V2X: Ready to Deploy”, bringing together infrastructure owners and operators, car manufacturers and suppliers, leading technology companies and research institutions to discover the benefits of C-V2X for traffic safety.

A family of technologies that can be tailored for all needs, C-V2X provides solutions for rural, regional and national infrastructure challenges by using connectivity to prioritise safety for all road users. The panel discussions will explore the adaptability of C-V2X solutions for different community needs and how IOOs and local authorities can leverage the opportunities of the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act to modernise their operations.

The event will take place at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Buckhead, Atlanta. It will feature keynote speeches from local and regional DOT and representatives of 5GAA’s member companies, such as Applied Information and Audi of America.

In addition, 5GAA’s members showcase live demonstrations of C-V2X use cases open to local authorities and other stakeholders during the afternoon. The demonstrations will occur in two locations: the Alpharetta Infrastructure Automotive Technology Laboratory, iATL and the Peachtree Corners Curiosity Lab.

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Find here the agenda of the workshop and the scheduled demos.

The list of speakers and their bios are also available here.

The international collaboration of tech leaders and public sector on a live connected car trial will pilot new roaming technology for traffic safety.

March 24^th, 2022 – (Blacksburg, VA) On March 24^th the Commonwealth of Virginia will host a live trial of new driver and pedestrian safety concept that allows near-real-time notification of roadway hazards through 5G and edge technologies. This trial is one of three conducted internationally by a historic public-private collaboration, organized by the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) and eight member companies representing leading technology companies from around the globe. A related European live-trial was conducted in the city of Turin, Italy. The North American live trial will be conducted on the Virginia Smart Road operated by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in Blacksburg, VA. It is the first of its kind in North America.

“The 5G Automotive Association lives out of cooperation between its members. In this case, eight members led by Intel and Verizon give a perfect example of how we can use connected mobility to increase safety on our roads,” said Maxime Flament, CTO of 5GAA. “5GAA is also global and we are happy that use cases demonstrated here in United States can readily be adapted in any other country supporting 5G and Edge networks.”

5G transmission speeds and so-called “Edge” servers—locally installed, high-powered computers capable of running Artificial Intelligence programs—open the door to smart city technologies like near real-time traffic management and innumerable other business applications. The connected car concept uses this high-speed and Edge computing technology to communicate with car sensors and pedestrian smartphones, via a user-authorized mobile app—about traffic hazards, like accidents and road construction—for Pedestrian and in-vehicle driver safety and efficient navigation.

This live international trial attempts to solve one of the more technical challenges of making the connected car concept a daily reality. The 5G networks underpinning the concept are managed by Communication Service Providers (CoSPs) according to geography, each with different edge solutions that must be able to communicate without interruption of the V2X applications as drivers cross borders. Roaming services—the ability to make a call regardless of the network—is one early success of multi-mobile network operators (MNO). Demonstrating the connected car concept can work in a roaming scenario is the core objective of the live trial and represents the first of any such attempt in the United States.

“Telecom operators will have to play a major role by enabling applications and services for the connected car ecosystem,” says Shamik Mishra, CTO Connectivity, Capgemini Engineering. He further adds: “Capgemini is excited to bring its innovative federated MEC (Multi-Access Edge Computing) platform and applications to this 5GAA trial to demonstrate the true value of intelligent industry, leveraging data in the vehicles and edge-cloud. The trials serve as a stepping-stone for realizing the potential for automakers to provide services to their connected cars from the network.”

The Virginia live trial addresses three objectives:

• Objective 1: Multi-MNO scenario: How can a vehicle, which has radio access to MNO A, use a MEC application, which is operated by MNO B -> Interworking between MNO‘s (by NOT losing the benefits of low latency) 
• Objective 2: Global operational Availability: How can an OEM as the MEC application developer be sure, especially on a global basis, that a MEC application works in the same way if it’s operated by MNO A, or if it’s operated by MNO B
• Objective 3: Multi-MNO with roaming scenario: Where the two operators can seamlessly transfer the V2X service from one operator to the other as the car OEM moves from one geo to the other in a roaming scenario. Typically, when an in-vehicle driver does a cross-border travel that involves two operators.

One of the key benefits of the trial is the value demonstrated by bringing in a large ecosystem to help develop not only the technology but also build the business case and model that will help drive the potential market adoption for 5G and C-V2X to help into the digital transformation of smart cities of the future. To succeed in this endeavor, it will need a village and investment from both public and private sectors to help adopt this new technology to provide a quality of life for all citizens.

The demonstration brings new learnings for various players across the value chain and creates a testbed for trying out new 5G connected car services at the Edge in subsequent phases. The U.S.  Live Trial will take place in Blacksburg, VA, on March 24^th, 2022.

BACKGROUND

In this live trial, Verizon and TELUS are exhibiting the Ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) 5G networking capabilities, such as hosting Capgemini’s ENSCONCE MEC platform, built upon the Intel      Smart Edge Open toolkit, to enable connected car use cases at the edge on Intel Architecture-based EC2 instances on AWS Wavelength. Intel Smart Edge Open (formerly known as OpenNESS) is a royalty-free edge computing software toolkit for building optimized and performant edge platforms.

“Intel is proud to be a leading member of this live trial to build and provision Infrastructure to enhance Connected Vehicle experience in multi-operator scenarios,” said Sameer Sharma, General Manager of Cities & Transportation Business Unit at Intel. “This demonstration shows how cloud service providers and communication service providers can advance road infrastructure deployments at the 5G network edge when powered by Intel technologies. This is just the beginning, as future trial phases will demonstrate additional exciting services”

Capgemini’s ENSCONCE MEC Platform also enables multi-tenancy and multi-MNO MEC federation capabilities based on GSMA Operator Platform requirements and comes with Capgemini V2X Stack built-in support. To realize the Active and Passive Vulnerable Road User (VRU) use cases, the AWS Wavelength EC2 instances are used to demonstrate Virtual-RSU and host V2X applications that are based on the Intel      Xeon      Scalable Processors. Harman International and Capgemini provide the Virtual-RSU and RSE solutions respectively to realize various V2X use cases with location aware and AI inferencing technologies. Harman also offers a 5G enabled OBU that integrates seamlessly with Stellantis/FCA car and hosts V2X applications. American Tower in collaboration with VTTI is providing the test bed infrastructure at the VTTI intersection where the trial for V-DOT will be performed.

“Since joining 5GAA in 2018, we have worked with public and private partners to help define the ecosystem for scalable cellular-based roadside infrastructure to serve the 5G connected vehicle.” Said Ed Knapp, CTO of American Tower. “By deploying C-V2X in combination with roadside sensors processed at shared multi-access edge computing facilities, also known as MEC4auto, American Tower hopes to enable deployments of seamless multi-operator MEC services to support low latency use cases.”

“The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), along with our Virginia Department of Transportation partners, is excited to support the demonstration of the MEC4Auto solution on the Virginia Smart Roads. The connected car concept provides reliable, low latency communications that can enable a variety of transportation safety use cases. This V2X technology takes a big step towards scalable deployment by demonstrating the seamless transfer of V2X services between operators and geographic locations with no change in performance, functionality, and reliability.”  Said Dr. Michael Mollenhauer, Director, Division of Technology Implementation at VTTI.

“The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has a mission to ensure the safe, efficient, and accessible travel of people and goods across the Commonwealth,” explained Amanda Hamm, VDOT’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Program Manager. “To achieve this mission, VDOT supports innovative solutions and partnerships, like this historic trial, to bring the connected vehicle ecosystem to fruition, as this environment could one day save lives by providing actionable, real-time information to all roadway users so that they better navigate our roadways.”

“Making roads safer for drivers and pedestrians is the ultimate goal of developing these next generation technologies,” said Ned Curic, Stellantis Chief Technology Officer. “The Jeep® Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid is the perfect vehicle for these live tests, equipped with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies and driver safety alert. With 5GAA, we are working with industry leaders across the globe to help pave the way for autonomous technology to benefit our products and, ultimately, our customers”

“Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength brings AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s wireless network minimizing the latency and network hops required to connect from an application hosted on AWS to the end user’s device,” said Jyoti Sharma, Senior Manager of Network Planning at Verizon. “Through our partnership with AWS, we are helping customers unlock the true potential of 5G and edge computing which together will enable innovative applications involving computer vision, augmented and virtual reality, and machine learning.”

Connected mobility is quickly becoming a reality, and thanks to ultra-low latency of 5G and power of edge computing, it will deliver on important safety outcomes for everyone on our roads in a near future,” said Ibrahim Gedeon, Chief Technology Officer, TELUS. “TELUS is proud to offer our world-leading connectivity, alongside this prestigious group of partners, in order to realize this trial and maximize our learning for the future.”

“At HARMAN, we are focused on building connectivity solutions at the intersection of 5G, V2X & Edge Computing that will build more equity on the road for all users,” said Mahsa Nakhjiri, Director, Product Management at HARMAN. “While these technologies can unlock many new use cases and experiences, the most important element of any solution in this space is safety.  As programs such as this one fueled by the collaboration of industry leaders and organizations like 5GAA bring a new degree of safety to users, they will also lead to a higher level of confidence in autonomous vehicles.”

Source: Harbor Research_1.

 

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is proud to partner again with the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) and for the third ETSI C-V2X Plugtests™ event hosted by DEKRA at its Automobil Test Center in Klettwitz, Germany.

From 28 March to 1 April 2022, ETSI and DEKRA will enable On-Board-Unites (OBUs), Roadside-Units (RSUs) and public key infrastructure (PKIs) vendors to run interoperability test sessions to assess the level of interoperability of their implementation and validate the understanding of the standards.

Additionally, 5GAA organises a workshop on “C-V2X Interoperability and Deployment” to bring together some key players in the C-V2X deployment and interoperability ecosystem. The workshop will take place on Thursday 31 March, from 09:00 to 12:30 CEST at the Dekra Testing Site. The discussion will focus on the future of C-V2X for the automotive industries and the role of certification for the deployment of the technology.

Participants will also have the great opportunity to join live interoperability demonstration on DEKRA’s outside testing area and discover ETSI’s ITS Test Scenarios use cases showcased by various companies.

Interested in attending the C-V2X Plugtests^TM event? Registrations are open until 21 March. Due to the Covid restrictions, capacity on-site is limited.

For any further information, please contact marcom@5GAA.org

5GAA WORKSHOP AGENDA

Please see the full agenda here:

9:00 – 09:30 – Opening session

Welcome to DEKRA Automotive Test Center Klettwitz
Thomas Jaeger, Head of Technology Technical Service Management, Senior Vice-President, Service Division Product Testing, DEKRA

Welcome to Plugtests Event
Ultan Mulligan, Director, ETSI Centre for Testing and Interoperability (CTI)

5GAA welcome and introduction to the workshop
Maxime Flament, Chief Technology Officer, 5G Automotive Association

09:30 – 09:50 – Session 1

Debrief of Klettwitz plugtests activities
Saurav Arora, Technical Project Manager, PlugtestsTM Event

10:20 – 11:35 – Session 2

Road operator perspective: “German Perspective on C-ITS Deployment”
Farzin Godarzi, Scientific Officer, Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt, Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen)

The future of C-V2X: “Commercial deployment of C-V2X vehicles”
Johannes Springer, Chief Technology Officer Connected Cars, Deutsche Telekom

Certification: “The importance of Certification for 5G Automotive”
Thomas Jaeger, Head of Technology Technical Service Management, Senior Vice-President, Service Division Product Testing, DEKRA

Testing Network V2X platform: “Vodafone’s V2X Safer Transport for Europe Platform (STEP)”
Robert Banks, Technology Development Manager, Vodafone

11:35 – 12:10 Moderated discussion – Bringing C-V2X on the Roads: the Role of Interoperability for Deployment

Moderator, Maxime Flament, Chief Technology Officer, 5G Automotive Association

12:10 – 12:30 Closing Remarks

Saurav Arora, Technical Project Manager, Plugtests^TM Event

Maxime Flament, Chief Technology Officer, 5G Automotive Association

Download the agenda here.

Barcelona, 3 March 2022 – The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), alongside its members, disclosed the latest global deployments of C-V2X technology, highlighting how 5G data will deeply transform the mobility system by making it safer and more efficient at GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona on Wednesday 2 March 2022. 

The 5G Automotive Association was back this year at Barcelona’s edition of the Mobile World Congress, the world’s leading exhibition for the connectivity industry, to disclose the cellular technology shaping the future of mobility alongside its member.

Today, connected driving is a reality. Over 200 million connected vehicles are equipped with C-V2X applications sharing hazard and traffic warnings on the road. Applied to the automotive sector, 5G is upgrading revolutionary in-car connectivity, allowing seamless and cooperative communication between vehicles, infrastructure, and surroundings.

On 2nd March, 5GAA experts and member spokespersons shared their views on how the deployment of C-V2X technologies is turning connected and safe mobility into reality from now and in the next few years. Moreover, the association had the pleasure to have Peter Stuckmann, Head of Unit, Future Connectivity Systems, DG CONNECT, European Commission, addressing the participants and highlighting the crucial role of investments in 5G and infrastructures to foster the European green and digital transition.

As noted by Johannes Springer, 5GAA Director-General, the association that celebrates its 5th Anniversary has been working intensely to bridge the gap between automotive, technology, and telecom industries and promote the 5G-V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technology as a comprehensive and integrated platform for connected vehicles, embracing digital transformations as opportunities for mobility innovations.

The conference, moderated by Freddie Holmes, Special Correspondent at Automotive World, offered an overview on the broad-scale improvements that connected mobility can bring to the global automotive system, starting with a first session on the 5G-V2X deployment landscape in different regions, such as Europe, China, and the US. Speakers underlined the need for increased ecosystem cooperation and cross-border projects to ensure reliable access to 5G networks to all users. The second session focused on the safety aspects and benefits brought by the technology, including protecting vulnerable road users.

The event concluded with an insightful panel discussion on mobility data, with the participation of representatives from the entire ecosystem value chain. Panellists discussed how smart cities and infrastructure could help make data-driven decisions that inform how we pave the path for the future of mobility and the crucial role of data standardisation and reliability and new business models to foster investments.

The event welcomed, in person or through virtual messages, high-level representatives of 5GAA’s member companies Deutsche Telekom, Verizon, China Mobile, Harman, Continental, Telefonica, Qualcomm, BMW, Huawei, Intel , ZTE, Stellantis.

In addition,5GAA hosted a Press & Industry guided tour across the booths of key member companies to share their latest C-V2X technology developments with journalists and industry analysts, focusing on road safety and digital infrastructures.

Companies featured in the tour included:

• Deutsche Telekom presented the Automated Valet Parking in a 5G network use case, in partnership with BMW and Valeo, which delivers high reliability and stable latency to ensure the necessary safety requirements. Moreover, the company presented its Mobility Connect solutions, offering drivers 5G seamless connectivity solutions
• ZTE Corporation showcased its 5G-V2X products and solutions, including 5G-V2X module, OBU, RSU, V2X cloud platform and other cases
• Qualcomm presented its Snapdragon Digital Chassis Platform: a set of technology solutions for building connected and intelligent vehicles that are safer, customisable, immersive and continually upgradeable, and Auto Connectivity Platform to support ubiquitous connectivity in and around the vehicle
• Intel with its Superdemo, developed with its partners Capgemini and Advantech for their 5G Road Side Unit solution for Smart City & Transportation use cases focusing on vulnerable users protection Digital Twin infrastructure for sustainable cities
• Rohde & Schwarz showcased its 5G and C-V2X solutions for development in the laboratory and verification in the field to ensure the performance and reliability of critical automotive communications
• Anritsu presented a joint demonstration in partnership with dSPACE. The demonstration showed the use of 5G Network Slicing in an Advanced Intersection Collision Warning (AICW) use case, using Hardware In the Loop (HIL) test and simulation system to provide a realistic sensor simulation to an OBU that is being tested

We would like to thank all our participants, member companies and speakers, for making it such an insightful event, clearly demonstrated the added value of ecosystem cooperation for the future of the transportation system.

Download the agenda of the event here.

For additional information, please get in touch at marcom@5gaa.org.

Please find the video contribution from Ramaswamy Iyer, Senior Vice-President and Head of Connectivity SBU, Harman that unfortunately, we have not been able to show during the conference due to technical problems.

On 2 December, the City of Turin (Italy) hosted a live trial of new driver and pedestrian safety technology allowing near-real-time notification of roadway hazards through 5G-Edge networks. This trial is one of a series conducted internationally by a historic public-private collaboration over the next few years, organized by the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) and eight member companies representing leading technology companies from around the globe.

5G transmission speeds and so-called “Edge” servers—locally installed, high-powered computers capable of running Artificial Intelligence programs—open the door to smart city technologies like near real-time traffic management and innumerable other business applications. The connected car concept uses this high-speed and Edge computing technology to communicate with car sensors and pedestrian smartphones, via a user-authorized mobile app—about traffic hazards, like accidents and road construction—to Pedestrian and in-vehicle driver safety and efficient navigation.

Watch this video to learn more:

Advances in communication technologies open up new opportunities and enable new types of services in the automotive area. These include road safety, traffic efficiency and customer services which are not specifically meant for automotive applications. As advanced V2X use cases requiring high reliability and/or high data rate are introduced, technologies such as multi-antenna solutions (e.g. massive MIMO), broadband (e.g. carrier aggregation), and FR2 solutions will be essential for V2X communications, and thus the number of required antennas mounted on vehicles will keep growing.

This study on the ‘Distributed vehicular antennas system’ provides a list of potential implementation options for vehicular-DAS with a brief analysis of impacts to 3GPP specifications and implementation costs. In addition, the potential performance gain of DAS over co-located antennas was verified through simulations, and the evaluation results and analysis were included in eCV2X WI TR.

Read the full report here.

 

5GAA shares the latest C-V2X developments at ITS World Congress (Hamburg): “5G will have the most revolutionary impact by reducing accidents and saving millions of lives.”

HAMBURG, 13 October 2021 – 5G-powered vehicles are foreseen to hit the market this year in Europe. More and more advanced vehicle-to-everything (V2X) use cases geared towards enhanced road safety, improved traffic efficiency, greener environmental impact and more comfortable driving are being deployed worldwide on a large scale. The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) and its members showed the latest developments during ITS World Congress in Hamburg.

5G-V2X spearheading the path to automated driving

Today, the 5G-V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) technology already enables fully connected and automated mobility with LTE-V2X technology. Vehicles and infrastructure can exchange relevant information via LTE-V2X through direct communication mode (not requiring network coverage) or mobile network communications mode, creating a real-time connection between all road users.

Many automotive services can be supported by the current global cellular standard LTE-4G, seen as an essential foundation for further progress.  Millions of vehicles on the continent are connected via 4G-LTE already, and industry analysts estimate that over 70% of all new vehicles sold are now 4G equipped. That said, 5G-V2X will enable more advanced connected mobility services and offer a clear path to automated driving – while maintaining service-level interoperability with pre-existing LTE-V2X vehicles.

5GAA will help prepare tomorrow with the ITS Directive revision, advocating a neutral approach on technology. Given the strong momentum in China and in the United-States, Europe needs a future-proof framework to stay in a leading role globally. Indeed, advanced driving is taking shape globally. At the moment, China is the only country that has 5G Cellular-Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) enabled vehicles commercially available on the market. To this date, 14 C-V2X vehicle models are commercialized. In the United States, Ford has committed to deploy C-V2X in all new vehicle models from early 2022. In Europe, 5G-powered vehicles are foreseen to hit the market still this year thanks to BMW.

“When applied to the automotive field, 5G will have the most revolutionary impact by saving millions of lives and reducing accidents on roads”, 5GAA CTO Maxime Flament said. “The combination of long- range and short-range connectivity C-V2X offers, delivers the optimal setup for safety and efficiency of traffic, in addition to improving environmental footprints.” Global deployment of C-V2X technology will have a sustainable impact in the world.

In the next two to three years, 5GAA expects to see mass deployment of C-V2X use cases geared towards improving traffic efficiency and road safety around the world. Vehicle commercialization is not enough however: the whole ecosystem – cars, cloud, map, network, positioning but also the road – needs to be C-V2X friendly. Therefore, 5GAA offers a platform to foster collaboration between top tier automotive, technology and telecommunications companies for them to develop end-to-end connectivity solutions for future mobility and transportation services.

Cover more digital roads via enhanced digital mobility services

At ITS World Congress, the world’s largest and most prominent event focused on smart mobility and the digitalisation of transportation, 5GAA experts and member spokespersons shared their views on how to accelerate deployment of the latest technology innovations and how to ensure future-proof investments. They shared the needs of road operators for their digital infrastructure and of automakers (OEMs) for digital mobility services, and zoomed in on digital roads in urban areas and cooperation models enabling deployment and use of 5G infrastructures for connected and automated mobility.

Furthermore, key members of the 5GAA shared their latest technology developments with a focus on Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs), among which:

• A system that warns of accidents between and help protect connected vehicles and cyclists – or other vulnerable road users such as pedelec, scooter riders and pedestrians developed by Continental and Deutsche Telekom. The solution calculates the paths taken by cars and bicycles. If they are likely to cross at the same time, the system warns both road users via mobile communications in real-time. Initial road tests have been successful.
• A Location-as-a-Service algorithm that improves the positioning of road users, in which vehicles exchange data via simulated communication (5G) by Fraunhofer Institute FOKUS. The aim is to warn drivers of a collision with a cyclist, an e-scooter rider of road damage, or to guide a blind person to the right government office or the bus door – for which highly accurate localization is always of fundamental importance.
• A demonstration of a connected e-bike, where Qualcomm (alongside company Spoke) is showcasing a new hardware solution designed to enable vehicles to identify VRUs using C-V2X.

And more. Request the full list of demonstrations on demand at 5GAA@teamlewis.com

Download the press release here.

On Tuesday 28 September 2021 the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) hosted an online conference on “5G: Connected Mobility in the digital age” to discuss the ongoing challenges and opportunities fostered by the digitalization of road transport in Europe.  

The event brought together EU representatives, local and national authorities, and the connected automotive ecosystem to the heart of Europe to advance the dialogue on the latest state-of-play and capabilities of Cellular-Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X), the EU regulatory framework and the importance of the 5G roll-out, and the crucial role of C-V2X technology to increase traffic safety and efficiency and achieve lower emissions globally. 

The Association had the pleasure to have European Commissioner for Transport Adina-Ioana Vălean open the conference and address the attendees. “Our Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy sets out milestones for the transformation of our transport system – and Cooperative, Connected, and Automated Mobility will play a key role: by 2030, we expect automation to be deployed at a large scale” stated Commissioner Vălean.

The event welcomed high-level representatives such as Daniel Mes, Cabinet of Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal Frans Timmermans, Charlotte Nørlund-Matthiessen, Cabinet of Commissioner for Transport Adina-Ioana Vălean, Member of European Parliament Henna Virkkunen, Peter Stuckmann, DG CONNECT Head of Unit Future Connectivity Systems, the European Cyclists’ Federation (Jill Warren, Chief Executive Office), Spain’s Directorate-General for Traffic (Ana Isabel Blanco Bergareche, Associated Deputy Director), the City of Turin (Nicola Farronato, Head of Innovation) and the Swedish Transport Administration (Hamid Zarghampour, Chief Strategist Connected and Automated Transports). It also witnessed a strong ecosystem presence, with speakers from 5GAA members BMW, Stellantis, Volvo Cars, Ford, HERE Technologies, Telefonica, TIM and Huawei.

Rewatch the event in the videos below.

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