Shaping the Future of Mobility – Vehicle Autonomy

The Connectivity Challenge 

As we progress along the continuum of vehicle autonomy, a critical factor to proper and safe operation of the vehicles is the connectivity network. Ubiquitous low latency, high bandwidth wireless networks are the cornerstone to realizing the vision of full autonomous mobility. Who will win the race and how will driverless vehicles transform society? One thing we know is that industry leaders and mobility visionaries will need to perfect connectivity to achieve V2X – Vehicle to Everything. 

Let us look at some of the key connectivity requirements to achieve Level 5 (for a description of the six levels of autonomy, see my recent article here).  

• Connectivity Must be Real-Time and Redundant - This requirement leads to a complex system of network-based structures requiring redundant, real-time architectures as depicted in this IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) illustration. 
• The Demand for High-Speed Data Will Only Increase - The inside of a driverless vehicle will literally be an information highway. Sophisticated systems including high-performing computers, advanced driver assistance systems, LiDAR, radar, and future human-machine interfaces will generate massive amounts of data which will need to be effectively and efficiently managed and transported. It is estimated that a single Level 5 autonomous vehicle will generate 25 gigabytes of data to the cloud every hour1, now that is a lot of data. 
• Safety and Other Critical Applications - V2X must continuously capture and interpret complete data from its surroundings to perform functions such as braking and accelerating. This requires both sensor and radio communications to work effectively. For example, the vehicle receives information that the light is turning green while simultaneously receiving an alert that the vehicle in the adjacent lane activated its turn signal, on top of information about changing road and traffic conditions ahead. These communications require an extremely low level of latency which is expected to be delivered by 5G wireless networks. 
• Reliability and Quality Must Be 100 Percent - In addition to being real-time, sensing and transmission must be 100 percent reliable under every environmental condition, therefore the highest-quality materials and exacting manufacturing processes must be used. This means testing and validation must be exhaustive to ensure this level of safety and reliability. 
• Increasingly Connected Cars Will Require A New Approach to Safety - As data requirements grow, vehicles will increasingly connect to the cloud, infrastructure, and other vehicles. With human lives at stake, it is critical to ensure safe data transport and provide the highest physical and data security protections. Encrypted data networks will be essential to prevent hacking. 
• Next-Gen Vehicle Design Will Require Miniaturized Solutions - To fit V2X systems under the hood, manufacturers will need to create automotive grade miniaturized and highly integrated computers and connectivity solutions that fit on today’s automobile computer chip, not one that fills the trunk.   

Connectivity – A Key Driver to Autonomous Mobility 

Autonomous vehicle communication can be thought of in spheres; within the vehicle, around the vehicle perimeter (e.g., sensing), and with external devices, infrastructure, the cloud, and other machines. All of this comes together as V2X, which is foundational to vehicle autonomy. A plethora of sensors, modules, computers, and software will choreograph communications, data processing, and will issue split-second directives inside and across these spheres. Critical enablers of V2X are the on-board and external networks that facilitate high-speed, real-time, low-latency mission-critical communication, without fail. 

In the future, we will be entrusting our lives to these super connected, intuitive, always-sensing vehicles. The road to “eyes off, hands off, read a book and take a nap” personal vehicle mobility may seem a far-away dream. The journey will look more like hybrid model, driver assisted to fully driverless, with the ability schedule manual takeover based on location or circumstance. The dynamic ecosystem and brilliant visionaries are crafting these scenarios and are pushing through roadblocks every day, inventing new solutions for our urban, suburban, and highway-traveling lives. 

In an upcoming article, I will delve into additional technologies that are coming together to make full autonomous mobility a reality. 

#5G #VehicleConnectivity #AutonomousVehicles #AutonomousMobility #DriverlessCars #IndustryTransformation #SocialInnovation #V2X