We are at the dawn of a new era of mobility. Future intelligent transportation systems will provide tremendous benefits to people and society in terms of lives saved, increased time and money efficiencies, reduced environmental impact, as well as better utilization of the global road and highway networks. Automated and connected driving, intelligent driver assistance and data-driven transportation network optimisation are examples of what tomorrow’s transportation will mean for people and governments. A key enabler of this development is that mobile networks fulfil the requirements of future transportation.

5G Automotive Association (5GAA) has developed the concept of predictive Quality of Service (QoS), which is a mechanism enabling mobile networks to provide advance notifications about predicted QoS changes to interested consumers. This makes it possible to adjust application behaviour before the predicted QoS change takes effect, which is important to certain automotive use cases, such as remote and autonomous driving.

The concept of predictive QoS is spreading in the industry and among standards- developing organizations (SDO). It is, therefore, of interest to achieve a common understanding of what predictive QoS is – what problems it addresses, as well as how they are addressed.

This White Paper describes predictive QoS in order to reach a common understanding.

You can find the white paper here.

5GAA has proudly partnered with ETSI for their first C-V2X Plugtests^TM. The testing, that took place from December 2^nd to 6^th at the Malaga premises of the 5GAA Member DEKRA, has been concluded with a success rate of more than 95% of the executed tests, showing an extremely positive level of multi-vendor interoperability.

The event

The event demonstrated a high-level of interoperability across all participating companies employing 320 C-ITS test-cases, where devices were successfully communicating with each other directly and without network connectivity based on ETSI TC ITS and 3GPP standards, in both lab and field environments. In addition to the existing ITS upper layer interoperability test specifications from ETSI, participating companies conducted also the recently adopted 5GAA cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) IoT test specification for mode 4 operation over the PC5 direct communication access layer interface.

The positive results showed the industry’s maturity to support the commercial deployment of C-V2X solutions throughout the world, with both infrastructure and onboard units.

“Testing European LTE-V2X radios with ETSI was an important milestone on our global strategy to accelerate C-V2X time-to-market and finally deploy C-V2X on the European roads” commented 5GAA CTO Maxime Flament.

Plugtests™ represent a fundamental tool to allow vendors to evaluate the interoperability of their systems, strengthening cross-industry cooperation and the entire C-V2X ecosystem. Moreover, this event was a further milestone in the cooperation between 5GAA and DEKRA, a leader in automotive safety testing, that already had the chance to collaborate during a previous Plugfest in April 2019.

The week was viewed as very successful by participants (65% of them were 5GAA members), as it brought together roughly 70 C-ITS experts for testing and to validate that C-V2X products are both mature and commercially available today for the cooperative, connected and automated mobility ecosystem.

At the end of the event, Bob Banks, 5GAA WG3 Chair (Vodafone Group), declared “The results clearly show the maturity of not only the C-V2X technology but also the products from different vendors as crucial and available enablers for connected and safer mobility”.

“I’m glad we could successfully demonstrate again that C-V2X is working as expected and that so many companies are ready for deployment in Europe” stated Ralf Weber, 5GAA WG3 Vice Chair (Qualcomm).

The Workshop

During the event, 5GAA also organised a joint workshop on December 4^th, on the latest developments related C-V2X Interoperability and Deployment. Standards experts from 3GPP and ETSI TC ITS offered thorough presentations on the ongoing developments related to standards that are already supporting the deployment of C-V2X. Subsequently, speakers from the European Commission, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Global Certification Forum (GCF) presented updates on ITS and how C-V2X can favour its deployment.

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) has the pleasure to announce its Conference on 6 February in Brussels.

This event is intended to advance the dialogue between high-level institutional and industry stakeholders on current challenges in the field of connected and automated mobility. Representatives from the European institutions, from local and national authorities, and 5GAA members will discuss ongoing challenges for connected and automated mobility and provide solutions by presenting the capabilities and deployment models of the Cellular Vehicle to Everything (“C-V2X”) technology.

Agenda:

09:00 – 09:30: Welcome and Introduction
09:30 – 10:30: First Session

– 5G: The Connected and Automated Automotive Revolution
– 5G in Cars: Is the Technology Ready?
– Digitalising European roads: leveraging synergies with mobile networks

10:30 – 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00: Second Session

– Current status of the 5G Strategic Deployment Agenda in Europe
– The Evolving Role of National Road Authorities in The Digital Era

12:00 – 12:50: ‘Ask the 5GAA experts’ Session
12:50 – 13:00: Closing Session

Confirmed speakers include:

– Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth (video message)
– Dino Flore, Vice President of Technology, Qualcomm
– Caspar de Jonge, Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
– Johannes Springer, CTO Connected Car T-Systems & Director General of the 5G Automotive Association
– Maxime Flament, CTO of the 5G Automotive Association

More speakers will be announced shortly. 

Stay tuned for the detailed programme!

In response to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai’s proposal for the 5.9 GHz band, the 5G Automotive Association issues the following statement:

The 5G Automotive Association applauds Chairman Ajit Pai for proposing to dedicate a portion of the automotive safety spectrum for the use of Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X). Extensive crash avoidance testing continues to demonstrate that C-V2X technology will deliver safety benefits to the American public. We look forward to working with all stakeholders throughout this process to ensure that spectrum regulations adequately address the needs of transportation safety.

You can find the official FCC chairman speech here. 

Turin, 14 November 2019 – Smart mobility technology is a reality today, with ‘Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything’ (C-V2X) allowing connected vehicles to communicate with the cloud, directly with each other and their surroundings. Deployment plans are primarily sustained by the global trend in the automotive industry to adopt 4G LTE cellular technology, followed by the emerging 5G high-speed low latency communications. Beyond infotainment, C-V2X will capitalize on vehicular and smartphone connectivity to contribute to better safety, less congestion and reduced emissions. 

During a live demo event in Turin, the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) showcased ready to deploy use cases in the streets of the city and a sneak preview of what the future has in store on the renowned Lingotto rooftop test track.  

Prominent members and partners of the 5GAA including Audi, Continental, Ericsson, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Harman Samsung, Marelli, Pirelli, Qualcomm, TIM and Vodafone demonstrated the current state of C-V2X and the road to future, Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), and Vehicle-to-Network (V2N) applications based on 4G LTE and 5G. 

“Connected mobility is a market reality.” says 5GAA Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Maxime Flament. “The use cases demonstrated in the streets of Turin are planned for deployment with a huge industry momentum based on the evolution path to 5G capabilities.”  

Using both direct short-range communications and mobile networks, the open-road demonstrations showcased the extensive capabilities of today’s C-V2X technology, ready for deployment. To name a few: 

• Protecting vulnerable road users, for instance, by alerting drivers about a pedestrian at a crossing using LTE-connected infrastructure. 
• Smoothing traffic by allowing public authorities and road operators to provide real-time warnings to drivers in urban environments concerning roadworks or speed limits, via the network. 
• Preventing incidents at dangerous intersections or in the event of unexpected braking, thanks to C-V2X direct-short range communications between vehicles. 

The track demonstrations at Lingotto underlined the enhanced safety benefits that can be expected thanks to the versatility of 5G and the wide range of services it enables. To name a few: 

• Vehicles will geo-tag dangerous areas for the following cars or provide ‘see-through’ functions to avoid dangerous overtaking. 
• Pedestrians will be detected directly via their smartphones and surrounding vehicles will be warned. 
• In case of accidents, emergency services will be able to visualize the situation live using on-board cameras of surrounding vehicles, improving response times and providing emergency responders situational awareness prior to arriving at the crash scene. 

Furthermore, Intel showcased an “In Vehicle Entertainment” demo at the Museum, in collaboration with Marelli, TerraNet and Equinix, showing how Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) can support immersive high-definition (HD) entertainment for all occupants of a moving vehicle, including video streaming, gaming, virtual reality (VR), office work, online education, advertisement. 

A short summary on each of the 5GAA C-V2X use cases, demonstrated today in Turin 

Demo 1 “Vulnerable Road Users”: open road demos on safety  

In this trial – which is part of Torino Smart Roads Initiative patronized by the Municipality of Turin – TIM, Links Foundation and Luxoft showed how the communication between the various actors moving along the roads can help in detecting potentially dangerous situations. The goal of the demos was to demonstrate how the 5G mobile network facilitates the protection of Vulnerable Road Users: pedestrians (“Presence of a pedestrian on a crosswalk”) and cyclists (“Presence of a connected bike on the road”). In the case of a pedestrian approaching a crosswalk, a Roadside Unit connected to the mobile network, equipped with a camera able to detect the event, sent a warning message to the nearby connected vehicles (I2V communication). In the case of a connected bike and a connected vehicle that are approaching each other, the two vehicles received a warning message about their presence when a risk of collision is detected.

Demo 2 “Urban Georeferenced Alerting” in open roads  

TIM, FCA, Links Foundation, City of Turin with 5T, and Politecnico di Torino showed how the Local Traffic Authority in Turin intends to notify drivers in real time of possible dangers and special situations on the road (traffic jam, road works warning, dynamic speed limit, etc.). A standard geo-referenced warning message was dispatched to a TIM AMQP broker” at the edge of the 5G mobile network and only the involved vehicles received the geo-localized message from the AMQP Broker using the TIM 5G Network. The warning was read and displayed in an FCA vehicle through the on-board HMI and can for instance notify the driver of upcoming speed reduction. The aim of the trial was to demonstrate how the TIM 5G Network is suitable for realizing smart roads services for connected cars. The solution is compliant with the standards so it can be applied in other locations covered with mobile networks. 

Demo 3 Intersection Movement Assist (IMA), Forward collision Warning (FCW)  

FCA and Harman Samsung showcased two Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) demos, by integrating C-V2X direct-short range communication into Maserati Levante and Quattroporte. The vehicles, through a direct radio link (network-less radio link), anonymously communicated basic information such as their position and related direction. 

The Forward Collision Warning (FCW), detected possible frontal collision and warned the driver accordingly. The Intersection Movement Assist (IMA), assisted the driver at the cross junctions to avoid a possible lateral collision with an oncoming vehicle. 

Demo 4 Emergency Electronic Brake Light (EEBL), Stationary Vehicle Warning (SVW)  

FCA, Continental, and Qualcomm demonstrated fast and reliable information exchange between vehicles in emergency situations. The two demos are based on C-V2X direct-short range technology, enabling Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication between two Jeep Renegade. There were two portions to this demo: 

• “Stationary Vehicle Warning” (SVW): when the hazard lights are activated, the application broadcasted a message to all nearby vehicles so that approaching vehicles could be informed even if the hazard was not visible.  
• “Emergency Electronic Brake Light warning” (EEBL): in the event of a sudden braking, the application broadcasted a message to following vehicles, such that approaching vehicles were notified of the potentially dangerous situation. 

Demo 5 See-through 

Vodafone, FCA, Vodafone Automotive, Marelli and Altran revealed the ‘See Through’ that uses C-V2X long-range cellular network communication to exchange streamed video in real time between vehicles, extending the driver’s visual range under obstructed visibility scenarios and to prevent accidents, especially those that may occur in an overtaking phase. The two involved Jeep Renegades vehicles were equipped with a connectivity solution (Marelli) and high frame-rate cameras (Marelli Motorsport) to detect the road lanes.  

A real time tracking system and a space mapping algorithm of the vehicles, specifically developed by Vodafone Automotive, allowed Vodafone’s Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) to dynamically manage and route the video flows on the basis of the vehicles’ relative positions and to ensure minimal end-to-end latency in the interest of drivers’ safety. Vodafone 5G ultra-low latency and high reliability were paramount to ensure the flow and synchrony of the real-time video exchange between vehicles, also under high traffic and cell saturation conditions. 

Demo 6 World-first 5G-enhanced ADAS services 

Audi, Ericsson, Italdesign, KTH, Pirelli, Qualcomm, TIM and Tobii showed how smart cars, commercial 5G smartphones and 5G networks jointly improve comfort, safety and efficiency. This unique collaboration combined the power of eye-tracking glasses, intelligent tires, in-vehicle augmented reality and 5G phones to work together over a live 5G network. With its high capacity and low latency, cellular 5G connectivity is ready to enable instantaneous cooperation between vehicles, the IoT ecosystem and more advanced driver assistance services. The live demonstrations at the Turin Lingotto test track were based on TIM’s commercial 5G network delivered in Turin in partnership with Ericsson. Audi cars, equipped with Pirelli Cyber Tyre, and embedded 5G modems provided by Qualcomm and available 5G smartphones were utilized to enhance pedestrian’s safety. 

About 5GAA 

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is a global, cross-industry organisation of over 130 members comprised of leading global automakers, Tier-1 suppliers, mobile operators, semiconductor companies and test equipment vendors. It works together to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transport services. 5GAA is committed to helping define and develop the next generation of connected mobility, automated vehicle and intelligent transport solutions based on C-V2X. 

Learn more on the 5GAA website and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. 

Media Contacts

5GAA Marketing & Communications
Email: marcom@5gaa.org 

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Official pictures: Conference – Demonstrations

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is a global, cross-industry organisation of more than 120 companies from the automotive, technology, and telecommunications industries (ICT), working together to develop end-to-end connectivity solutions for future mobility and transportation services.

5GAA welcomes the opportunity to give feedback on the call for inputs on the impact of 5G on regulation from the Body of European regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).

Following the assessment by the BEREC on the list of regulatory aspects impacted by the development of the 5G technology, 5GAA would take this opportunity to add potential missing regulatory aspects as well as to highlight 5GAA’s view on BEREC’s priorities for the coming three years.

1. 1. 5GAA considers the availability of spectrum for digital communications to be critical for road safety using 5.9 GHz ITS spectrum. It is therefore essential that any regulatory framework provides certainty to the industry to invest in today’s technology for Day 1 services as well as a robust roadmap for advanced safety (5GAA is currently working on a related Work Item on New Radio V2X).
   2. Beside the direct communication means in the 5.9 GHz band enabling V2V and V2I communication, 5GAA stresses the need for the development of mobile network coverage alongside the road network, and calls for the adoption of regulation which stimulates investments in mobile network coverage (5GAA is currently working on a related Work Item on Strategic Deployment Agenda), to enable the full range of capabilities provided by cellular V2X.
   3. 5GAA highlights the need for continuous coverage and seamless handover of 5G connectivity for vehicles crossing country borders in Europe. Further work is needed, notably in collaboration with standardisation bodies, to establish the right conditions to stimulate continuous coverage and seamless handover across borders. (5GAA is currently working on a Work Item on Network Selection for this very purpose). However, it should be noted that despite the importance of cross-border handover with 5G networks, given use of ITS spectrum, it is not a concern for the 5G sidelink case.
   4. 5GAA stresses the required investments into connected intelligent traffic infrastructures to assure safe and efficient mobility. Significant investments can be ensured by stimulating synergies of mobile network infrastructure and intelligent road infrastructure along with cohesive funding mechanisms (e.g. CEF Transport/Digital) (5GAA is currently working on a Work Item on Road Side Unit).
      On this point, 5GAA would like to add that CEF transport needs to remain technological neutral while CEF Digital should be focused on Mobile Networks.
   5. As road safety and automated driving are prominent example of Quality of Service needs, 5GAA calls for regulation which focuses on social benefits, outcomes and market adoption to position Europe as a global leader in the field. (e.g. enables prioritization of different service classes) (5GAA is currently working on a Work Item on this matter, Business Aspects of Network Slicing (BARNS)).
   6. 5GAA would like to draw attention to CCAM’s needs in terms of direct communications for critical road safety use cases as well as complementary network based communication and calls for the adoption of regulation which considers various ways of connectivity and keep regulation technology neutral.
   7. As CCAM goes beyond automotive sector, 5GAA would like to point that there is an opportunity to address the digital transformation of the transportation sectors by stimulating synergies with other transportation sectors (as pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, esp. in urban environments, as well as rail and tolling).

The next years are crucial to set Europe at the forefront of the development of 5G and of Connected and Automated Mobility, to guarantee the safe and sustainable mobility of citizens while maintaining a global competitive edge in 5G development. Effective synergy between the development of the 5G ecosystem and European regulation is a precondition to ensuring that the benefits of 5G are indeed fulfilled.

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The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is proud to be a partner of the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) in the first C-V2X-only Plugtests™ event, to take place in Malaga, Spain, from 02 to 06 December 2019. This interoperability test is being held with the support of the European Commission and hosted by DEKRA, member of 5GAA, in its Connected Vehicle Test Development Centre, where trials will be carried out both in lab and field environments.

Plugtests™ represent an important tool to allow vendors to evaluate the interoperability of their systems and provide precious feedback to independent experts in order to improve the standard-making process. Moreover, this event is a further milestone in the cooperation between 5GAA and DEKRA, a leader in automotive safety testing, that already had the chance to collaborate during a previous plugfest in April 2019.

On 04 December, an ETSI-5GAA Plugtests™ conference is scheduled, focused on nowadays achievements and challenges in the connected automotive sector, to offer the audience a complete update on the opportunities and implementation models of C-V2X technology.

Registrations are open until 15 November. For any further information, please consult the official event page.

5G Techritory is the annual Baltic Sea Region 5G Ecosystem Forum organised by the Electronic Communications Office (ECO) of Latvia, aiming at gathering decision makers, major representatives from industry associations, and business leaders to discuss the deployment of the earliest available commercial applications of 5G technology. Its second edition is going to be held in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 27-29 November.

Taking place in a vibrant region for 5G implementation, the 5G Automotive Association is proud to be confirmed once again as one of the main partners of this conference. 5GAA Director General Johannes Springer is going to participate as a speaker in front of an audience of up to a thousand senior professionals invited upon an attentive selection to ensure the highest quality of debate.

The Baltic Sea Region includes nine countries comprising of a population of 150 million people. Among the Baltic countries, Latvia appears in the third place of the 5G Readiness ranking according to the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2019 report. This result shows that the potential for international leadership in the field is highly promising and this edition has all the characteristics to be a must-visit, given the renewed interest for digital and technology of the newly appointed European Commission.

Since the objective of the programme is to focus on what is readier for commercialisation, four verticals have been identified as the main topics:

• Smart City
• Smart Mobility
• Industry 4.0
• Smart Media and Entertainment

In addition, a 5G policy hackathon, a key stakeholders’ roundtable and an exhibition are scheduled as side events.

Registration is open and all the possible interested participants are encouraged to apply.

See the official press release and leaflet.

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) is a global, cross-industry organisation of companies from the automotive and telecommunications industries, working together to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transport services.

Following its vision, 5GAA has rapidly expanded to include key players, namely the automotive manufacturers, Tier-1 suppliers, chipset/communication system providers, mobile operators and infrastructure vendors. More than 120 companies have now joined 5GAA. Diverse both in terms of geography and expertise, 5GAA’s members are committed to helping define and develop the next generation of connected mobility and automated vehicle and intelligent transport solutions.

5GAA is willing to engage with the Chinese government and eco-system to accelerate the growth of the automotive industry and connected-automated driving services in China. Regarding Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) Onboard Unit (open for public comment), 5GAA fully supports the targets to phase out physical tolling stations in China and would like to share some views on introducing C-V2X technology to fulfil this function:

1. Our research and field tests indicate that C-V2X offers high network security and reliability, as well as better performance in terms of coverage and latency compared to other existing alternatives. 5GAA believes that enabling electronic toll collection (ETC) via C-V2X would offer significant benefits. 5GAA is acting to include tolling as one of the most critical use cases supported by C-V2X. In addition, we noticed that the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) V2X Technical Committee has worked on a similar objective. More importantly, in addition to vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), C-V2X supports vehicle-to-pedestrians (V2P), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-network (V2N), encompassing all scenarios of smart mobility;
2. C-V2X is the future-proof technology to evolve from LTE-V2X to NR-V2X and so on;
3. C-V2X has matured thanks to broad cross-industry support. Major carmakers are now speeding up the business cases and pre-installation of C-V2X in their vehicles. For example, 5GAA released its C-V2X deployment roadmap at the beginning of 2018 and expects the first batch of C-V2X-equipped cars to be commercialised as early as 2020.
4. With regard to industry development, 5GAA believes there are two phases for C-V2X to be implemented and to enable all services needed to realise intelligent transport:

• Phase I: Utilising the existing C-V2X mature products and industry’s support, including chipset, devices, vehicles and communication equipment, to address tolling service for highway scenarios.
• Phase II: Based on C-V2X and its implementation in diverse categories of terminals like mobile phones (pre-installed and after-market), foster V2I synergy for the next ten years, e.g. highway tolling, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), for V2P, as well as road safety and coordinated driving for V2V.

5GAA believes C-V2X technology is a critical technology enabler for in-vehicle ETC technology and recommends including C-V2X into the Chinese national standard covering the Electronic Toll Collection Onboard Unit.

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