E-mobility Technology Winter 2020

e-mobility Technology International | Vol 7 | Winter 2020
5G boosts
benefits for connected vehicles
The introduction of 5G New Radio (based on 3GPP
Release 15 specification) enables higher data rates
and lower latencies for V2N network communications.
The first deployments in commercial vehicles are
expected to start as early as 2021. The following 5G
phase (3GPP Release 16), expected to happen from
2023 onwards, will provide even lower latency and
high reliability to support V2V (Vehicle-to-vehicle) and
V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure) type communication,
often referred to as 5G-V2X.
This offers key features that support higher levels of
cooperative automated driving. A recent 5GAA white
paper looked at the new functions it makes possible,
including areas such sharing sensor data, such as
video from the car in front; control information to
allow vehicles to drive in close formation, saving road
space; exchanging vehicle trajectories to prevent
collisions and protecting vulnerable road users like
pedestrians and cyclists. These advanced examples of
V2V and V2I communications are clearly only feasible
thanks to 5G technology. Although the physical radio
layers of LTE releases and 5G NR are very different, the
chipsets and associated communication stacks will
integrate the different radio technologies, supporting
smooth operation and backward compatibility of
services.
Nokia has played key role in these connected vehicle
test projects focused on the verification of 5G based
new network capabilities and Multi-access Edge
Computing (MEC) to support the advanced needs of
automotive related use cases. The first MEC based use
cases was held in 2015 with Deutsche Telekom at the
National German test bed motorway A9 with partners
Continental and Fraunhofer. Since then tests have
been extended to more complex use cases in various
countries with other partners around the globe
such as in Japan, China and Germany. The ongoing
EU funded projects such as 5G Carmen includes the
analysis and verification of functions distributed
between edge clouds deployed in networks of
different operators even across borders. In the MEC-
VIEW project Edge computing is used to complement
local information generated by sensors in the vehicle
with information generated by road side cameras
with the objective to support automated driving in
challenging urban situations.
5G technology elements have been in the focus of
other projects like the EU financed 5GCar focused
on testing coordinated lane merge, the cooperative
perception of connected vehicles and protection of
vulnerable road users. Nokia, together with Seat,
Telefonica, FICOSA and other partners also tested
Vulnerable road discovery in Segoviav – utilizing
MEC. The 5G NetMobil project included the use of
network slicing technology to support different
Quality of Service (QoS) requirements when vehicles
use communication infotainment and safety critical
applications in parallel. Nokia has also supported
SoftBank with the construction of a 5G verification
environment for connected vehicles at Honda
Research and Development site in Japan.
With several industries on board, driven by the
telecom and automotive industries, the connected
car is really going places. However, the global
commercialisation of connected automated driving
will not only depend on the successful verification
and introduction of technologies in networks,
vehicles and road infrastructure. New business and
cooperation models between the ecosystem partners
will have to be developed and complemented with
the evolution of the regulatory framework related
to driving, data handling and management. This is
an industry challenge that we will solve by working
closely and collaboratively with our ecosystem
partners.
Uwe Pützschler, Head of Automotive & Mobility
Solutions, Nokia and Vice-Chair of the 5G
Automotive Association
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