Huawei and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have tested 5G network technology for automated vehicles, to show the communication protocol’s capabilities in collision avoidance systems.
The testing show that 5G V2x (vehicle to everything) networks are able to achieve a reliable and ultra-low-latency connection between vehicles, which will enable complex co-operative manoeuvres by automated vehicles and road infrastructure systems.
Communication between vehicles and (road) infrastructure systems was extensively researched during the past years. State-of-the-art Vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication systems use a dedicated WLAN-based ad-hoc network called IEEE 802.11p for exchanging standardized messages. In spite of many advantages, such as short latency times, well-defined messages etc., there are additional technological solutions also supporting cooperative systems in the transportation domain based on mobile radio.
Ensuring low-latency and highly reliable communication between vehicles is one of the intended goals of 5G. Today’s cars are equipped with a multitude of on-board sensors. However, all sensors on cars with automated driving functions today are line-of-sight sensors, which offer limited perception in blind non-line-of-sight conditions such as road intersections or sharp turns. V2X communication can offer increased environmental perception by enabling the exchange of sensor data between vehicles and infrastructure beyond line-of-sight. It can enhance the automated driving control function by enabling cooperation among vehicles. Together with the perception and control subsystems, and other communication technologies, the 5G V2X Radio can form an integral part of the future intelligent driving system of automated vehicles.
Huawei and DLR have signed a collaboration agreement to define the requirements on the future 5G mobile radio standard for use cases and selected customer functions concerning highly automated driving (HAD) and explore the feasibility of 5G for automotive applications. The current project addresses the requirements of cooperative emergency manoeuvres to increase the safety aspects of HAD.
Huawei and DLR are also looking to more complex cooperative joint manoeuvre of vehicle platoons (linked vehicles moving in convoy) on highways and urban roads, for instance cooperative change in lanes and cooperative platooning with short distances to increase the efficiency of traffic and to save energy. V2X communication, independent from its technological implementation, is regarded to be an essential part of platooning functions. The use of V2X communication is not only limited to vehicle platooning scenario but also studied extensively in cooperative automated driving. DLR integrates the Huawei wireless testbed into the automated research vehicles and investigates the features of the 5G prototype beside the existing WLAN-based V2X solutions. DLR strives for a hybrid communication framework which integrates different technologies.
Several trials, where a critical traffic scenario was simulated has been performed in December 2016 on a test track in Munich (Germany). Both, cellular connection via a 5G base station (V2N) and direct communication (V2V) between cars have been tested extensively.
