Media-Insert Communications

Is 5G C-V2X really paving the road to autonomy?

At AutoTech Europe, TU-Automotive took a step back to look back at last year’s conference in which it was claimed that 5G C-V2X is paving the way for fully autonomous vehicles.

Key to the discussion is whether 5G as well as 5G C-V2X are sufficient for creating a fully autonomous vehicle future. Niels Peter Skov Andersen, chair of ETSI Intelligent Transport Systems Technical Committee of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), begins by saying V2X and C-V2X are basically the same things. ‘C-V2X’ is a term used by the telecommunications companies.

He adds: “What has to be understood is that we are operating with different forms of communication. We have short-range direct communication for communicating directly between vehicles and vehicles as well as directly between vehicles and road infrastructure. We would typically use that for tactical information, to communicate things drivers can see out of the window or around corners. It covers all of the things you need to do to avoid crashing.

“Then you have long-range communications where you can, for example, update the map which is not necessarily a fixed map but a dynamic map with roadworks and other road event updates,” he explains. C-V2X is a communications technology they propose for short and long-range communications, and he says there are more than 20.000 km of roads covered by ITS-G5 and believes it’s up to the industry to implement the standards.

Read the complete article on TU Automotive, or on Urgent Communications. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 30th November 2022. Author: Graham Jarvis.

Old Fashioned Trust Still Biggest Challenge to Connected Autonomous Vehicles

Thales says, globally, there will be 75 million vehicles with autonomous capabilities by 2035.

However, to reassure the users of the vehicles, as well as to increase uptake of connected and autonomous vehicles, along with efficient connectivity has to come stringent cyber-security. Trust is key to their development, including in how the data from the vehicles is processes, analyzed and used. The company also claims that a revolution is underway in the automotive market. It believes it’s an unprecedented one that involves technological, societal, and competitive change to the extent that the traditional car is becoming a truly connected object. With this connectivity the car or any other connected vehicle type is “gradually offering new functionalities such as the possibility to alert the driver to danger, detect drowsiness or connect a smartphone to the onboard computer”.

This connectivity and interconnectivity involve “the real-time exchange of data between the vehicle, the user and their environment opens up a whole new world of services”. The interconnectivity comes in the guise of the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) infrastructure, whereby the vehicles and infrastructure such as traffic lights communicate with each other as part of a system of advanced assisted driving solutions, shared mobility, autonomous driving, and the fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem.

How to create trust in connected autonomous vehicles, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive 9th June 2022; also published by Urgent Communications on 10th June 2022.

Where e-SIMS meet Cloud-Based Management Platforms

Connected and autonomous vehicles need a way to connect to a mobile network.

Ericsson predicts that all the manufactured vehicles will be cellular-enabled by 2025, “leading to an enhanced driving experience made possible by innovative connected services, like assisted driving and better infotainment”. Being cellular-enabled will require the vehicles to have e-SIMS to connect them to a 5G network and they will enable over-the-air (OTA) updates, removing the need to go to a dealership to update software. With cellular connectivity, the updates will occur automatically.

In their September 2020 blog, eSIM: Driving global connectivity in the automotive industry, Francesco Militano, strategic product manager, and Tandy Xinglong Mai, head of global connectivity for automotive at Ericsson, explain: “Chevrolet… issued a recall on its flagship 2020 Corvette model to fix a glitch in its trunk. As a result, some owners will have to take their car to the dealer for the necessary software update, but for those who signed up to receive theirs over-the-air, the update will be made automatically and without any disruption to their lives.”

Discover more, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 23rd September 2021; also published by Urgent Communications on 13th October 2021. Author: Graham Jarvis.

V2X Reducing the Cyber-Security Risks

The future of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) depends on a number of factors, and one of the most vital ones is cyber-security.

Protecting the vehicles, the highways and the infrastructure that support them is now seen as one of the key elements to accelerating the technologies. One emerging technology that will inevitably have an impact on vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications is cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C2X), which the GSMA explains is “designed to connect vehicles to each other, to roadside infrastructure, to other road-users and to cloud-based services”. The aim is to enable intelligent transport, which also needs be secured.

Reduce the V2X cyber-security risks, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 15th September 2021; also published by Urgent Communications on 22nd September 2021. Author: Graham Jarvis.

Handling the Inevitable Driverless Tech Accident

Many of the proponents for autonomous vehicles say they are safer than human drivers, reducing accidents, deaths, and injuries.

However, an article by Tony Gillespie, visiting professor, electronic and electrical engineering at the University College London (UCL) in Engineering and Technology magazine says it is inevitable that the vehicles themselves will be involved in accidents. The potential reasons why they could crash range from software bugs, operator failure, to electronic and mechanical issues.

Speaking to TU-Automotive, he explains: “Safer does not mean completely safe. Most current accidents are owing to human error while driving. Accidents because of a vehicle failure or the road infrastructure are relatively rare. A few are down to lack of maintenance, but MOT testing has reduced their frequency.”

Discover what needs to be done to prevent driverless tech accidents, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 10th September 2021; also published by Urgent Communications on 11th September 2021. Author: Graham Jarvis.

Driverless Tech Must Ride Out the Storms to Come

Navigation products are being released all the time promising drivers the ability to take into account extreme weather conditions.

Matthew Avery, director of insurance research at Thatcham Research, reminds us that drivers need to be aware of the weather at all times in order to ensure that they drive safely. Connectivity can permit them to know what’s ahead of them, allowing them to, for example, adjust their speed and maintain enough distance between them and other vehicles to account for increased braking distance in rainy, snowy and icy road conditions.

Find out why driverless tech must ride out the storm, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 30th July 2021; also published by Urgent Communications on 1st August 2021. Author: Graham Jarvis.

V2X Vital for Traffic Efficiency and Road Safety

The mobility industry is transforming itself and, with it, comes the need to change and improve automotive connectivity.

New technologies won’t work without it because it defines the future of mobility thanks to the key role that real-time data analysis, to and from vehicles as well as from the infrastructure around them, will play. It is, with considerations to network latency, imperative to have the ability to gain real-time insights to make decisions that can save lives. By collating automotive data from the various sources, including from connected and autonomous vehicles, it becomes possible to understand traffic patterns, driver behavior, accident prevalence and other factors that are key to increasing road safety, while simultaneously reducing accidents.

Find out more about why V2X is vital for efficiency and road safety. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 29th July 2021; also published by Urgent Communications on 30th July 2021. Author: Graham Jarvis.

 

From insurance to cryptocurrencies in healthcare

Beyond his work with TU Automotive and Trudy Darwin Communications, between 2020 and 2022, Graham Jarvis - freelance business and technology journalist, wrote and edited insurtech reports for Intelligent Insurer; wrote articles on cryptocurrencies in healthcare; wrote about education; edited and wrote fleet management reports for ABAX; wrote about digital accessibility; wrote about cloud computing; wrote about customer experiences and customer management; wrote about connected, autonomous vehicles and smart cities. Other topics were also covered. 

Driverless Tech’s Best Bet is with Open Source

Millbrook Proving Ground and Midlands Future Mobility have opted to develop ‘neutral host’ networks.

These are allowing any connected and autonomous vehicle developer to work with any mobile network operator of their own choosing. While 5G Open Ran (O-RAN) is not an open source, it is a significant new network provision in the UK, and beyond, and UK government policy is encouraging mobile network operators to embrace new, disaggregated RAN solution that are built from open, multi-vendor blocks. They will include hyperscale could solution provides and form the basis of network basis for networks over the next decade.

Find out why neutral host networks are important, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 30th April 2022; also published by Urgent Communications on 3rd May 2021. Author: Graham Jarvis.

The CASE for Intuitive Mobility

Daimler predicts that connected, autonomous, shared and electric (CASE) ‘intuitive mobility’ will succeed in turning the automotive industry upside down.

It thinks a true revolution is afoot, combining each component into one comprehensive, seamless mobility package. The company adds on its website: “For many years, Daimler has been investing in mobility, which goes beyond the actual vehicle. In the future, we will continue to expand this commitment. Therefore, we look forward to innovative companies and start-ups willing to work with us.” So, there will be a brief discussion about the role that start-ups can play in offering automakers innovative solutions...

Uncover more about the CASE for intuitive mobility, read the complete article. 

Client: InformaTech, published by TU Automotive on 2nd April 2021.