The use of older generations of cellular networks in the transport and automotive sector are commonplace since several years back. They have mainly been used for basic telematics and fleet management services, but also for regulatory services like e.g., eCall. Changes in the transport and automotive industry towards driverless and collaborative systems will change the role and use of connectivity. Luckily this transformation coincides with that 5G coverage is built out worldwide.
In the future connected, driverless vehicles, have the ambition to decrease the number of traffic accidents and impact on the climate to zero. This puts new demands on the road transportation sector’s collaborative efforts and handling of data to make the road traffic flows more efficient, especially in cities. Driverless transportation systems also require more advanced fleet management to handle unforeseen events, either with passengers on a bus or with a driverless truck experiencing an extremely complex traffic scenario.
All this triggers new communication needs. A basic requirement is still that there is sufficient network coverage. New communication needs add demands for higher network availability and reliability. Another demand will also be differentiated connectivity to support more advanced applications, like for example high quality video from the vehicles to assess the situation around them.
The 5G ride project is an example of a project that has explored this. It shows that when these strict 5G requirements arise during a journey, 5G capabilities are provided instantly via network APIs. Network APIs allow application developers to easily access 5G capabilities, such as differentiated connectivity. The project also tested sensors in infrastructure that enhance the traffic perception of self-driving vehicles by sharing real-time traffic data via a low latency reliable 5G network.
Telia’s 5G-innovation program NorthStar, that they run with Ericsson, was used to trial key scenarios in the 5G Ride-project. NorthStar provides a 5G test network in Sweden and is an excellent asset for the transport industry to evaluate new concepts that rely on more advanced 5G services.
In the Drive Sweden booth at the Tomorrow Mobility World Congress in Barcelona, November 5-7, you will have the opportunity to discuss these examples and all other aspects of 5G in the transport sector with Håkan Olofsson, Ericsson.