Networking & Communication Systems

Asfinag’s Manfred Harrer and Peter Meckel talk to Jason Barnes about the organisation’s first steps towards C-ITS deployments - and why ITS-G5 will be the underpinning standard For quite a number of years, it was assumed that the connectivity required for cooperative ITS (C-ITS) applications and autonomous vehicle (AV) operations would be catered for by a bespoke communications solution/protocol. This would provide localised ad hoc communication in a manner similar to Wi-Fi, and the dedicated bandwidth/n

Draft legislation which will underpin future services such as connected vehicles has been put before the European Parliament and Council this week. Aimed at harmonising cooperative ITS deployment, the C-ITS Delegated Act - a leaked draft of which had circulated widely within the ITS industry – will in effect decide, for example, what communications protocols are to be used as C-ITS develops. The draft suggests that the eventual law will be technology-neutral, although the fact that it is using the exi

Chinese auto maker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has entered into a partnership to launch cellular vehicle to everything (C-V2X) and 5G-enabled cars in 2021. Geely says it is working with Qualcomm Technologies and technology group Gosuncn to offer 5G and C-V2X to select vehicles operating at SAE International Level 3. At Level 3, the driver can safely turn their attention away from driving tasks while the vehicle handles situations which call for an immediate response. The driver must be prepared to in

Transport operator Transdev and telecoms firm Ericsson have teamed up in France on an autonomous vehicle (AV) cybersecurity project. The companies have deployed high-speed private network LTE data communications to demonstrate secure mobility operations with AVs. The Rouen Normandy Autonomous Lab (RNAL) project is an on-demand shared and autonomous mobility service operating on open roads with four Renault ZOEs and, soon, with an i- Cristal Transdev Lohr shuttle. Franck Bouetard, head of Ericsson Franc

Teleste is to help the Prince of Songkla University (PSU) in Thailand develop smart campus applications for transport and street lighting. PSU students and researchers will utilise Teleste’s advanced video management, Internet of Things and situational technologies to develop new services and applications. The project is being launched in support of the government’s Digital Thailand 4.0, an initiative which seeks to establish an economy based on digital computing technologies. Dr. Wasin Suwannarat, vi

Mobility as a Service firm Moovit has linked up with TomTom and Microsoft’s Azure Maps to launch a multimodal trip planning app. The companies say it offers users their options for driving a car to park at a station, for example, and taking a train before completing the journey using other modes such as bike. “With most jobs still residing in densely populated cities, the typical commute is becoming multimodal, requiring the suburbanite to first drive to a public transit stop and continue their commut

The UK government has signalled that it is ready to allow autonomous vehicles (AVs) with no driver to be tested on public roads. It is already committed to having fully self-driving vehicles on UK roads by 2021. At present, operators are legally required to test AVs only when “a driver is present, in or out of the vehicle, who is ready, able, and willing to resume control of the vehicle”. But the Department for Transport (DfT)’s updated code of practice on trialling AVs on public roads - as opposed t

Iteris has opened a new regional office in the Chicago metropolitan area (Chicagoland) as part of an expansion in the US Midwest region. The company says it is driven by additions to various projects, which will start imminently, including the expansion of traffic signal system management services in the City of Omaha. Iteris says it is also deploying its intersection-as-a-service platform to the Kane County Department of Transportation, as well as a mobile workzone connected vehicle application for t

Finland plans to launch next year a research cluster which the government hopes will put the country at the forefront of developments in autonomous technology. The RAAS (Research Alliance for Autonomous Systems) ‘innovation ecosystem’ is designed to bring together research organisations and other stakeholders to develop “new, cross-sector solutions”, with an emphasis on those containing a high level of automation. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has put up grant money, with research or

Waymo, the company that began as Google’s driverless car project, has pledged to open a facility in Michigan, US, to produce advanced autonomous vehicles (AVs). In a statement, Waymo insisted: “This will be the world’s first factory 100% dedicated to the mass production of Level 4 AVs.” Level 4 automation means that no human interaction is required, and the vehicle is able to adjust in the case of things going wrong – but there is an option for manual override. This is still some way from Level 5, in