What’s driving 5G?
5G, the fifth generation of mobile networks delivering super-fast connectivity, is here and it’s set to usher in a plethora of uses besides phones and devices such as superfast broadband, smart factories and cities, distance health care and autonomous cars.
In fact, 5G could be about to play a big part in the way we get around, particularly when it comes to connected autonomous vehicles or CAVs. But how likely is it really?
Well, 5G’s speed of connectivity could lie at the heart of CAV development though this would depend on the 5G infrastructure as autonomous vehicles, obviously, rely heavily on vast amounts of data.
This means that having driverless cars on our roads isn’t going to happen quickly as the satisfactory infrastructure isn’t available yet, but the advent of 5G is certainly going to help speed up progress.
Research and development are key, and both manufacturers and independent companies are working and collaborating on the potential of 5G and CAVs with multiple masts and base station set ups allowing technicians to explore different scenarios (such as maintaining a 1Gbps connection at speeds up to 160mph).
Vehicle-to-vehicle or V2V applications, and in particular vehicle to everything (C-V2X) applications, could be crucial in the development of 5G in autonomous vehicles because it helps join up all the necessary dots to see not only what the vehicle itself is doing, but also check on other traffic, cyclists, pedestrians and update the driver on what’s happening in the surrounding infrastructure.
As demand for vehicles grows, the space for them doesn’t. But, the low latency (its capacity to process a very high volume of data messages with minimal delay) of 5G means that autonomous cars will have the instantaneous responsiveness needed in order to interpret sudden changes in road conditions, the approach of other cars and the proximity of other hazards.
That’s good news for road safety. And it’s not too far away as data-driven driving forms part of a £13.3 million trial of connected car technologies and automated driving currently taking place in Germany.
Inevitably, key to these trials is the speed and volume of data that is produced during the research as there’s a huge amount of it. Because of 5G’s capacity for handling such a high amount of information, the processing of data is much more rapid than it could have ever been before.
Progress is being made, and though we may not see autonomous vehicles controlled using 5G in the very near future, it really is just a matter of time.