At the 2018 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, last week, the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) presented a session on the benefits of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communications technology in future transportation systems.
The 5GAA delegates see the acceleration of C-V2X technology implementation through the widespread support from its membership of leading telecommunications and automotive companies. The group says this advanced technology will serve as the lynchpin that will create a connected vehicle ecosystem and enable future mobility solutions. 5GAA notes that the value of C-V2X technology lies in the fact that it is a unified technology, which can provide short-range and long-range communications. C-V2X technology can, for example, alert drivers of a cyclist around the corner or a traffic jam 15 miles (25km) away.
During its session, 5GAA focused on the growing support that C-V2X technology is enjoying among leading companies in the telecommunications and automotive industries and presented the importance that 5G cellular technology will play in enabling smart mobility of the future. 5GAA plans to support and advocate the work of this technology by speeding up the deployment of C-V2X for the automotive sector, while creating a joint ecosystem and implementing key functionalities such as vehicle-to-smart-device.
The group sees 5G as an enabler for life-saving solutions and new business applications; 5GAA members Ericsson and Ford also highlighted exciting use cases and growing business applications for 5G technology in the automotive sector.
During the presentation, 5GAA members Qualcomm and Huawei emphasized the growing C-V2X ecosystem support and presented their integrated chipsets that will enable C-V2X commercialization. The start of C-V2X mass market series deployment is predicted to begin as early as 2019-20.
“We think of 5G as an end-to-end solution starting with the wireless connectivity, but also including edge computing, the transport network, artificial intelligence and machine learning,” concluded Thierry Klein, head of disruptive innovation program at Nokia Bell Labs and vice-chair of 5GAA.
“Together they power the applications and the services for intelligent transportation and smart mobility, and ultimately, the ways humans interact with connected and self-driving cars of the future.”
Stefano Sorrentino, master researcher at Ericsson, noted, “Connected and automated driving will lead to a data explosion that will definitely challenge the network capacities. This challenge could be remedied through the deployment of scalable and integrated networks and cloud architectures, as well as the continuous evolution of radio technology into 5G.”
Christoph Voigt, 5GAA chairman and head of R&D connectivity at Audi, said, “We are all working to deploy C-V2X and make it hit the road as soon as possible.”
