Networking & Communication Systems

When it comes to driverless cars, there are many variables – but one thing is for certain: autonomous driving will have a significant impact on vehicle design, says Andreas Herrmann The transition to autonomous vehicles (AVs) means that many of the factors which have shaped automotive design for the past 130 years no longer apply. At present, the design of a car is largely determined by the anticipated direction of travel: the car’s silhouette immediately shows where the front and back are. Driverless ve

A man has been found guilty in a UK court of plotting to use a driverless car for terrorism. Farhad Salah was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court after prosecutors argued that he was planning to put an explosive device in a vehicle which could then be controlled remotely. He will be sentenced on 24 July after the jury found him guilty by a majority of 10 to two. His co-defendant Andy Star was found not guilty of the same offence at the trial. It is the second time that both men, who are Iraqi nationals,

Kapsch TrafficCom is to oversee the infrastructure integration of the Smart Columbus Connected Vehicle Environment (CVE) in the US city of Ohio. The CVE is expected to improve safety and mobility for vehicle operators and pedestrian safety in school zones through connected vehicle infrastructure. It is part of the Smart Columbus programme, an initiative which shares lessons learned and best practices from integrating ITS in a bid to increase transportation mobility and safety. Kapsch will deploy

Cohda Wireless has partnered with India-based Sasken Technologies to accelerate the adoption of vehicle to everything (V2X) in connected vehicles utilising cellular or dedicated short range communication (DSRC). Cohda will combine its wireless DSRC/C-V2X stack and applications with Sasken’s telematics control unit with the stated aim of making road transport safer and smarter. Calvin Nichols, vice president at Sasken, says the partners are seeking to create a “telematics reference design” that will bene

The Government of Japan is to install 5G wireless communications base stations on traffic signals nationwide by 2025. A report by The Japan News says the project is expected to reduce costs for telecommunications service providers. As part of the project, traffic signals will be equipped with devices to measure the amount of traffic. The information sent from the stations to the vehicles is expected to support autonomous driving. Japan is not the only company looking to harness the potential of 5G. In F

Transport companies are under concerted attack from hackers, according to security specialist Irdeto – and most don’t know how to respond. New research from the group says that 77% of organisations in transport and automotive have experienced an Internet of Things (IoT)-focused cyberattack in the past year – but only 6% “have what they need to combat cyberattacks”. The survey of 225 companies in China, Germany, Japan, UK and US found that the incursions had an impact on 91% of those which experience

Antaira Technologies has launched its ARS-7231-AC series, an industrial dual radio wireless unit with router capabilities, which it says can be used in ITS and traffic applications. The solution, embedded with the Qualcomm Atheros QCA9892 chipset, is expected to offer a wide network coverage with a low-voltage input of 9V and support. According to Antaira, the device can be used as an access point, transparent bridge or repeater. These units allow users to position the wireless antennas in a better sign

Electronic vehicles (EVs) are a technical marvel – but vulnerable road users (VRUs) can’t hear them, which creates obvious safety problems. Brigade Electronics says help is at hand with its Quiet Vehicle Sounder (QVS), a speaker system which the company says reduces collisions between pedestrians and hybrids and EVs. The QVS, also known as an acoustic vehicle alerting system, simulates the sound characteristics of an internal combustion engine by emitting a blend of bbs-tek white sound frequencies that

The Department of Information Technology (DIT) in Russia is to implement an agreement between Moscow’s mayor Alexey Kornya and mobile network operator MTS to trial 5G technologies. Eduard Lysenko, head of DIT, says: “Moscow is setting itself the task of reducing operator expenditure on creating infrastructure for the commercial launch of 5G by removing administrative barriers." Kornya and MTS will also seek to pilot projects involving virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things and smart city techn

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) is to extend its SimplyGo system to allow commuters to pay for transport via Visa contactless cards from 6 June. The move follows an initial launch in which SimplyGo was made available for commuters using Mastercard in March. Yeo Teck Guan, LTA senior group director, public transport, says: “We are seeing a steady uptake in usage since its launch, with an average of over 120,000 daily trips. With the inclusion of Visa, more commuters will benefit,” Users