Brussels, 05^th December 2017 – The 5GAA today published a report, authored by independent telecoms, media and technology consultants Analysys Mason together with automotive consultancy SBD Automotive, which assesses the benefits of cellular vehicle to everything (C‑V2X) technology for delivery of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. The report, which has a focus on the benefits of such solutions in Europe, uses qualitative evidence, and describes quantitative cost–benefit analysis that the consultants have undertaken, relating to deployment of C‑V2X.

Publication of the report coincides with policy development on V2X, and use of the 5.9GHz band, in the European Union, where the European Commission is currently undertaking a public consultation on deployment of cooperative intelligent transport systems (C‑ITS).

The study concludes that the deployment of C-ITS systems is beneficial at the European Union level. Net benefits that could be accrued in Europe are estimated to be in the range of EUR20 billion to EUR43 billion in 2035 (with the highest benefits coming from increased road safety, and traffic efficiency), across the four scenarios modelled.

The most favourable scenario of those modelled in the study (amounting to EUR 43 billion net benefits) is where the potential for rapid penetration and economies of scale for C-V2X is maximised and both C-V2X and the Wi-Fi Standard IEEE 802.11p are able to co-exist in the 5.9GHz spectrum band.  Such benefits do not arise in a scenario where the use of IEEE 802.11p is mandated for C-ITS services, which would result in less than half these expected net benefits (EUR 20 billion).

The study also indicates benefits of C-V2X for the European market lie in its deployment flexibility, with the ability to provide coverage for both short range and wide area applications, and certainty of future evolution to 5G, potentially facilitating earlier deployment as well as after-market deployment (e.g. V2X services provided in vehicles via a smartphone or other after-market device with C-V2X connectivity).

Reduced infrastructure deployment costs are a further key benefit of C-V2X, from the potential to re-use existing mobile infrastructure, and thus leveraging cellular technology integration and economies of scale, rather than building independently operated roadside infrastructure.

Christoph Voigt, 5GAA Chairman comments: “C-V2X will be fundamental to the deployment of cooperative intelligent transport systems. The benefits highlighted is this report indisputably demonstrate that this technology will lead to major improvements in driving and road safety. It further highlights that the European Commission should take a technology neutral approach and not limit these benefits by mandating the use of the Wi-Fi standard IEEE 802.11p”

The socio-economic benefits study on C-V2X can be found here.

Separately, the 5GAA has also today published a study which carries out a quantitative analysis of LTE–V2X (PC-5) and IEEE 802.11p technologies for short-range ad hoc/direct communications in reducing fatalities and serious injuries caused by motoring accidents in the EU. The modelling underlying this report was peer-reviewed and validated by the technology and policy consultancy, Ricardo. The study find that LTE-V2X (PC5) outperforms 802.11p in reducing fatalities and serious injuries on the EU’s roads. The 5GAA’s study on an assessment of LTE-V2X (PC5) and 802.11p direct communications technologies for improved road safety in the EU can be found here.

About C-V2X

V2X allows vehicles to communicate with each other and the wider transport ecosystem. It will potentially complement on-board sensors by providing enhanced information (such as data from other vehicles) over a longer range.

C‑V2X is a technology developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to deliver V2X services, using two modes of communication:

• a direct vehicle-to-vehicle mode (called ‘PC5’ in 3GPP specifications) and
• a network communications interface (called ‘Uu’ in 3GPP specifications) for vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication via existing mobile networks.

Download Press Release here.

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) submitted comments to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; V2V Communications.” The proposed rule is to mandate new light-duty vehicles to be equipped with dedicated short range communications (DSRC).

The 5GAA is a new global cross-industry association of automotive, technology and telecommunications companies and includes 42 members, of which 8 are founding members (AUDI AG, BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm). Our mission is to enable communications solutions that address society’s connected mobility and road safety needs.

In our submission, 5GAA applauds the concept behind the rule, as V2V safety is important to our technology deployment mission. 5GAA urges NHTSA to not consider just the best technology of today, but also to consider the best technologies of tomorrow. Such an approach will promote innovation and competitive market-based outcomes, ensuring that American drivers and passengers benefit from the best and most advanced safety solutions available as technology evolves. Rigid technology mandates such as specifying DSRC, whether direct or de facto, freeze technology solutions to a past point in time. NS will significantly impede the innovation and evolution path for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) safety, and positions the US to lag behind the rest of the world in V2V communications specifically as well as V2X broadly. 5GAA elaborates on the following points:

Similar to DSRC, Cellular-V2X technology for V2V safety can transmit BSM in an ad hoc manner without cellular network coverage.

Cellular-V2X technology for V2V safety communications can operate without a SIM card and offers the tools to adopt, evolve or innovate any privacy-preserving security management system including SCRM.

Cellular-V2X technology for V2V safety benefits from a significantly larger link budget than DSRC (e.g., 8 dB at high speeds), corresponding to twice the range of DSRC and higher reliability.
Cellular-V2X technology for V2V safety can support up to 50 messages per second with less than 20 msec latency.

Cellular-V2X enables V2V, and for that matter Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) and Vehicle-to-Network (V2N), safety applications to take advantage of the widespread cellular network coverage in the US.

5GAA notes also that the impending launch of 5G will only widen the performance gap between Cellular- V2X and DSRC.

5GAA believes that Rather than moving forward with the proposed regulation, NHTSA should instead undertake an updated, comprehensive technology neutral analysis of V2V solutions, including DSRC and Cellular-V2X, against the performance requirements in the NPRM. If this review indicates that regulatory action is necessary, the U.S. Department of Transportation should move forward with a technology neutral regulation that sets forth minimum V2V safety performance requirements only.