Japan's NTT DoCoMo has teamed up with Continental, Nissan, INC, OKI, Ericsson and Qualcomm with plans to conduct the first cellular vehicle to everything (C-V2X) trials in Japan this year.
The collaboration is aimed at validating and demonstrate the benefits of C-V2X using the specifications within 3GPP Release 14.
The trials will be designed to demonstrate the range, reliability and latency benefits of C-V2X direct communications using the 5-GHz band, and the complementary benefits of combining LTE-Advanced network communications.
C-V2X is designed to complement advanced driver assistant system sensors such as radar, lidar and camera systems to extend a vehicle's situational awareness beyond line of sight and even to blind intersections.
The direct communications technology provides enhanced range and reliability without relying on cellular network assistance or coverage.
Use cases for the trial will include vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure and vehicle to pedestrian direct communications, as well as vehicle to network operations over cellular network-based wide area communications with cloud access.
DoCoMo will provide its LTE-A network and V2N applications for the trial, Qualcomm will provide its C-V2X reference design including a C-V2X chipset with integrated global navigation satellite system (GNSS) capability and OKI will integrate this chipset into its roadside unit infrastructure and applications.
"This collaborative project will bring together the invaluable knowledge and experience of world leaders in the automotive and telecom domains, and will it be imperative for all parties to underpin their roles in the era of connected cars toward improved road safety and comfort,” NTT DoCoMo CTO Hiroshi Nakamura said.
“NTT DoCoMo is determined that our experience in telecommunications systems will be indispensable to maximize the values of C-V2X. This project will set a clear path toward connected cars and roads of the future that materialize the power of C-V2X."