Skip to main content

New German cross-industry project to develop 5G vehicle applications

A new consortium, initiated by Ericsson in Germany, aims to create an infrastructure and real application environment on a motorway test track, to carry out tests in vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, digitisation of the railway infrastructure and other applications using 5G technology. The 30 kilometre test track consists of several construction sections on the 30 kilometre ‘digital test field motorway’ along the A9 motorway and the high speed rail track between Nuremberg and Greding. The in
November 22, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A new consortium, initiated by 5650 Ericsson in Germany, aims to create an infrastructure and real application environment on a motorway test track, to carry out tests in vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, digitisation of the railway infrastructure and other applications using 5G technology.

The 30 kilometre test track consists of several construction sections on the 30 kilometre ‘digital test field motorway’ along the A9 motorway and the high speed rail track between Nuremberg and Greding. The infrastructure is already completed in the first partial sections, meaning that live tests can begin immediately.

The project operates within an independent infrastructure and is not dependent on any commercial network, meaning that 5G prototype applications can be installed and tested regularly, in various network configurations, at any time, without restrictions. The dedicated Ericsson 5G mobile network allows live tests of real time applications, even under extreme network loads, and at very high travel speeds. Test conditions, which are hardly ever found in commercially operated live networks, can be created.

Ericsson has received permission from the German Federal Regulatory Agency to use frequencies from the 700-MHz band and will act as a network operator.

Members of the 5G Connected Mobility consortium include Ericsson, BMW Group, Deutsche Bahn, all three German mobile network operators -Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica Deutschland and Vodafone, the TU Dresden 5G Lab Germany, the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) and the Federal Regulatory Agency (BNetzA). The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and the Bavarian Road Construction Administration support the project.

The project aims to pool the knowledge, perspectives and recommendations gained from this partnership and further develop them with the focus on integration into international 5G standardisation activities.

Within the scope of 5G-ConnectedMobility, the consortium plans to develop use cases of associated vehicle applications, for vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, new methods of traffic information provision in real time and cross-manufacturer traffic control for automated vehicles.

Related Content

  • December 23, 2015
    ITS sector must use less confusing industry terms says Q-Free
    For ITS to gain the recognition it deserves, Q-Free’s Knut Evensen argues that the sector must have a coherent message and avoid confusing the wider community with a bewildering array of terms and acronyms. Any industry or group of people will develop its own lexicon over time. The process is near-inevitable, as individuals’ knowledge bases increase and evolve, and terms for common wisdom are created and become truncated, or even slang. A danger, though, as a relatively small group looks to admit large numb
  • July 29, 2021
    EU mobility’s Covid escape route
    European Union roads could be more resilient after the pandemic ends, thanks to the goal of creating a more integrated mobility network, says ERF’s José Diez
  • January 25, 2012
    Increasing and improving disabled access to public transport
    An overview of European efforts to increase disabled access to public transport, by David Crawford
  • October 12, 2015
    Independent tests reveal floating car data is ‘as accurate as road sensors’
    An independent quality test by the German State of Bavaria’s Centre for Traffic Management (ZVM) has found that floating car data (FCD) from INRIX is ‘just as good’ as the information from road sensors. The results indicate that the traffic authority can provide enhanced traffic information to citizens without the expense and time-consuming process of maintaining and installing additional road sensors. ZVM selected Inrix to provide data and insights to reduce congestion across the state and commissioned