Telecommunications companies Ericsson and Orange, together with the PSA Group, which makes Peugeot and Citroen vehicles, have signed a partnership agreement to conduct a 5G communications technology pilot for automotive applications.
The new ‘Towards 5G’ connected car partnership aims to make use of 4G to 5G technology evolution to address connected vehicle requirements such as intelligent transport systems (ITS) to improve road safety, and new automotive and in-car services. The partnership is technically focused on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) architecture and real-time performances for the deployment of ITS and connected services in vehicles. Initial tests will use an end-to-end architecture system with LTE technology, and will evolve to LTE-V and 5G technology.
First use cases on cooperative ITS (C-ITS) have been defined and are currently being tested on PSA’s field test track in France, including systems such as ‘see through’ between two connected vehicles on a road, and a connected emergency vehicle aiming at notifying in real time the emergency vehicle’s approach. Other deliverables will be produced during 2017 in the framework of the partnership’s new research initiative.
The Towards 5G connected car initiative is an important opportunity for the three partners to combine their expertise in connected vehicles to meet the challenges of new mobility services and the Internet of Things (IoT). For the partnership’s program:
Ericsson provides the radio and a distributed virtualized core network to enable network slicing capabilities and intelligent geo-messaging service;
Orange provides the cellular network with the associated spectrum on the field trial site and the onboard connectivity integrating vehicular use cases;
PSA Group is in charge of automotive use case requirement definition, embedded architecture integration, user experience, and technical validation.
As a result of their collaboration, the partners will develop a comprehensive experience of the requirements for a 5G infrastructure that fits to the needs of the connected vehicles industry. They will also identify the full potential of innovative services and use cases for the benefit of improving road safety, and for better quality of services to end users.
“Connected vehicles are part of our IoT strategic vision, along with home, smart cities, e-health, and Industry 4.0,” explained Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, executive vice president of innovation, marketing and technologies at Orange.
“Vehicle manufacturers expect us to provide the connectivity they need for remote maintenance management, for example, or to keep onboard systems software permanently up-to-date. By teaming with Ericsson and PSA Group, we are combining our capabilities to drive 5G development for innovative services, with the perspective of the availability of 5G by 2020.”
Charlotta Sund, vice president and head of the customer group for industry and society at Ericsson, noted, “5G technology will play a key role in the transport system of tomorrow. We are bringing networks, IT and specific innovative solutions to the automotive industry. Along with key players like PSA and Orange, we will ensure the required levels of safety and security, as well as contributing to a more sustainable and smart society.”
