The Use of Cellular Wireless Communications in Support of Dedicated Short Range Communications for the Connected Vehicle

I originally investigated the potential synergies and resultant barriers and challenges for integrating public/commercial grade wireless communications in support of the “Connected Vehicle”, back in 2007. (then known as “Intellidrive”)  A brief summary of the initial findings and a proposed architecture was presented in a blog post in August, 2011.  Since the initial posting, the Connected Vehicle ecosystem has started to take shape and is gaining significant momentum on multiple fronts, including amongst the automotive and telecommunications industries, as well as the Federal Government.  As a result,  I thought it might be of some value to revisit and update the hybrid communications framework originally proposed for the Connected Vehicle.

Current Values

The primary attractiveness of commercial cellular continues to be maturity of technology and network coverage, including for most major urban areas, suburban areas and even significant coverage of rural areas.  Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) is currently limited to approximately 1200 feet, line of sight, and will require significant investment in new infrastructure. Commercial wireless and Wi-Fi technologies continue to show promise for providing secondary, tier-two services associated with the Connected Vehicle.

Current Barriers and Limitations

Substantial limitations still remain. The prevailing barrier is communications latency with regards to minimum requirements associated with V2V and V2I. In addition, commercial cellular networks remain vulnerable to network congestion issues (peak periods), including denial of service and dropped calls.    Also, cost remains a significant hinderance, as the Federal Government has taken the stance that automotive safety should be free to the end-user.

Additional Resources

 The Battle Between Cellular and DSRC – Panel Discussion from Telematics Update

http://uk.telematicsupdate.com/fc_tele_evupdatelz/lz.aspx?p1=05119912S3022&CC=&p=1&cID=0&cValue=1

Hybrid Communications Network for the Connected Vehicle

http://terranautix.com/2011/08/14/hybrid-communications-network-for-the-connected-vehicle/

Connected Vehicle Insights – Fourth Generation Wireless – Vehicle and – Highway Gateways to the Cloud

http://www.its.dot.gov/research/pdf/Tech%20Scan%204G%20Wireless%20(final)%20.pdf

Update on State Legislative Efforts to Facilitate the Autonomous Vehicle

It was back in 2010 when Google announced the rather shocking news that the tech giant had been operating autonomous vehicles on the streets of northern California and had already racked up more than 100,000 miles on public roads prior to the announcement. Since then, the tech giant has expanded its efforts and commenced with an all-out lobbying effort to begin laying the legislative and institutional foundation for facilitation of autonomous vehicles.

Nevada
Nevada was the first state to engage with Google and Google’s plans to commence with autonomous vehicle research. After months of lobbying by Google, Nevada Assembly Bill 511, Section 8, signed by the Governor in June, 2011 “requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt regulations authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles on highways within the State of Nevada”. the law provides that the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles “shall adopt regulations authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles on highways within the State of Nevada.” The law charges the Nevada DMV with setting safety and performance standards and requires it to designate areas where driverless cars may be tested. The full text of the bill can be read here.

Florida
The 2012 legislative season finds Florida looking to be the second state to implement legislation that will enable testing and research of the autonomous vehicle. HB 1207, which passed unanimously out of the House Transportation & Highway Safety Subcommittee, “provides the mechanism to regulate autonomous vehicle technology, seeking to put Florida law ahead of the technology curve and allowing for the safe testing and operation of self-driving vehicles in Florida” The bill ” Authorizes operation of vehicles equipped with autonomous technology for testing purposes; directs DHSMV to prepare report on safe operation of vehicles equipped with autonomous technology on public roads; provides for content of report; requires submission of report to Legislature.” Information on the status of the bill can be found here.

Arizona
Arizona has also introduced legislation that will facilitate the development of regulations regarding the use of autonomous vehicles. HB 2679 would require the state Department of Transportation to adopt rules authorizing “autonomous” vehicles, operated hands-free by computers using optics, lasers, radar, global positioning systems and something called LIDAR, for light-detecting and ranging, which uses a rotating mirror atop a vehicle to get a three-dimensional image of what is around it.

References and Resources
Good news for Google: Nevada approves self-driving car regulations
Nevada Passes Google’s Autonomous Car Bill
Nevada Legislature AB 511
Assembly Bill No. 511–Committee on Transportation
Legislators look at allowing Driverless Cars on Florida Roads
Navigating the Legality of Autonomous Vehicles
What Florida needs: Driverless cars
Arizona lawmakers mull virtual driver’s licenses, driverless cars

Recap of CES 2012 with a Next-Gen ITS Perspective

Another International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is in the books, and once again, Next-Gen ITS was a key contributor to the news of the week. One of the interesting aspects to this year’s CES was the fact that it was held the same week as the Detroit Auto Show, a key event on the automakers calendar. However, even with the overlap in event scheduling, automakers including Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes and Toyota were all in attendance at CES, further amplifying the importance of the recent shift in consumer transportation technologies.

Some of the key ITS-related trends from CES this week included:

• The emergence of open APIs from automakers for crowdsourced app development,
• The continued rapid growth of in-vehicle connectivity/telematics systems,
• Deeper, enhanced integration of consumer devices with vehicle-based information systems,
• Continued proliferation of context-aware, geofencing-based applications,
• Continued integration of wireless providers with vehicle information systems,
• Continued migration to cloud-based vehicle networking, and
• Continued convergence of mobile software and application platforms.

The following provides a listing of some of the ITS-related news that surfaced at CES this week.

Smart Cars Talking to Each Other – New Applications Using Vehicle-to-X Technology
OnStar opening API to mobile app developers
QNX CAR 2 mobile apps platform
AT&T Plots a ‘SIRI’ for the Connected Car
Start Your Engines! Connected Cars at CES
‘Connected’ Vehicles Will Boost Road Safety
Ford talks up connected cars at CES
Mercedes-Benz’s Dr. Z Downplays Importance of Automated Driving
Mercedes-Benz Introduces Connected-Vehicles
My CES highlight: riding in a robot car
Turning to Tech on the Road
CES Turning into Big Tech Auto Show
M2M Shines at CES
LG supplies new infotainment units to GM; Features smartphone integration
Daimler and Google deepen strategic partnership
Viper Debuts SmartStart 3.0 for the Cloud-Connected Car