BASKING RIDGE, N.J.— Cisco and Verizon collaborated on a successful proof of concept demo in Las Vegas, showing that cellular and mobile edge compute (MEC) technology can enable autonomous driving solutions without the use of costly physical Roadside Units to extend radio signals.
The result paves a simpler and more efficient route to powering applications such as autonomous/unmanned last-mile delivery bots and robotaxis in cities like Las Vegas, where public MEC technologies exist. Additionally, cities and roadway operators could create safer roads with C-V2X applications including pedestrian protection, emergency and transit vehicle pre-emption, on and off-ramp protection (e.g., when a loaded truck needs autonomous guidance to merge or brake safely), and potentially others that involve vehicles approaching intersections with traffic signals.
Proof of concept
Autonomous features in connected vehicles have always relied on roadside radios to extend the signals vehicles use for low-latency communication with each other and surrounding connected infrastructure. The Cisco and Verizon test proved that Verizon’s LTE network and public 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength, together with Cisco Catalyst IR1101 routers in connected infrastructure, can meet the latency thresholds required for autonomous driving applications – replacing the costly roadside radios previously required to meet those needs.
By using LTE and edge compute to virtualize the role of the Roadside Units, C-V2X communications proved to be more streamlined – likely to result in improved efficiency and cost effectiveness for municipalities, infrastructure providers, and application developers working with autonomous vehicles. (C-V2X refers to a vehicle’s ability to communicate with other vehicles and connected infrastructure surrounding it.)
The result demonstrates that connected and autonomous vehicle applications can be deployed today using LTE networks, mobile edge compute, and in-vehicle interfaces deployed by OEMs. These capabilities could lead to safer, less congested roads with current connected and autonomous vehicles, with scalability for future applications hosted at the edge and using LTE and 5G connectivity.
Connected transportation – powered by cellular
Improving communication between vehicles and their surrounding infrastructure is essential for creating safer roadways and enabling the autonomous future of driving. Intersections must be securely connected and equipped with compute to allow applications at the edge to communicate and inform split-second decision making.
“This test is a huge milestone in proving that the future of connectivity for IoT applications can be powered by cellular,” said Krishna Iyer, Director of Systems Architecture, Verizon. “We’re marking the strength of mobile edge compute platforms for connected transportation innovation with much more streamlined architecture. Together with Cisco technologies, we’re setting the foundation potentially to realize a ubiquitous IoT in the connected and autonomous future of driving.”
“The future of autonomous vehicles cannot progress without reliable communication between vehicles and their surrounding environments,” said Mark Knellinger, Lead Transportation Solutions Architect, Cisco. “This is huge for roadway operators in that it relieves them of the massive expense of deploying and operating a dedicated V2X environment.”
— by Matt Conte, Verizon
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Secretary Chao returns as a CES keynoter, following a keynote address during CES 2018. She will discuss the current state of innovation and recent DOT initiatives to support the safe integration of new technologies into our country’s transportation systems. The vehicle tech section at CES is larger than many stand-alone car shows, with more than 160 vehicle tech exhibitors – including 10 major automakers. CES 2020 will also showcase the latest in drones, self-driving vehicles, smart cities, resilience technologies and more.
“As the highest-ranking U.S. transportation official, Secretary Chao is driving the Administration’s initiatives to safely advance the transportation industry through tech innovation,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “We welcome Secretary Chao back to the CES keynote stage and look forward to hearing the DOT’s latest initiatives that will provide a roadmap for the industry – in the U.S. and abroad – and help to further improve public safety.”
After this session, Telva McGruder (left) told NNPA Newswire that General Motors (GM) is now at a point where they have African American Ancestry employees at higher levels in “effectively all of our business functions.” GM’s new vision is a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion—BDPA and COMTO attendees realize GM cannot accomplish their vision without software and new applications. Rena Davis, Lyft’s senior policy manager, reemphasized to bdpatoday that through Lyft Concierge, a web-based ride-dispatching platform, industry now has access to new tools that bring transportation services to new customers and underserved communities. Moreover, “Smart City” digital transformations and multimodal convergence of shared transportation opportunities will yield significant career opportunities for BDPA and COMTO members.
The finalists were announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, joined by Barbara Bennett, president and chief operating officer of Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc., and Rick Clemmer, chief executive officer of NXP Semiconductors. Also present were mayors of five of the finalist cities—Steve Adler of Austin, Andrew Ginther of Columbus, Sly James of Kansas City, Bill Peduto of Pittsburgh, and Charlie Hales of Portland. The announcement was made at the C3 Connected Mobility Showcase being held at the South by Southwest conference (SXSW).