The first 5G car is about to hit the road in China! What is the experience of true 5G car networking?

Jia Haonan from Aofei Temple
Quantum Bit Report | Public Account QbitAI

You must have encountered such typical Chinese road conditions.

When driving on the road, you have to follow behind a large vehicle. At this time, no matter how intelligent the assisted driving is or how experienced the driver is, relying on human eyes + cameras, you cannot understand the surrounding road conditions.

If at this moment, a large truck passes through the traffic light intersection quickly, would you follow it or not?

I accelerated and followed, but the light at the intersection suddenly turned red. With a "click", all 6 points were gone.

If you are conservative and don't follow, you may regret wasting time.

This is one of the most difficult scenarios experienced drivers encounter when driving on the road, but now, with the advent of the 5G era, such a dilemma is no longer a dilemma.

Because the 5G V2X communication network can push traffic light conditions to cars in advance, there is no need for drivers to observe at all.

After receiving the traffic light information, the car will automatically adjust its speed to pass the traffic light at an appropriate speed. If it is calculated that the vehicle cannot pass the intersection within the speed limit, the vehicle will automatically accelerate and brake to a stop.

It reduces risks and saves time, and of course saves the driver from worrying.

That’s right, the biggest advantage of 5G cars is that they have an additional “information network”, and their perception , prediction , decision-making , and control capabilities will provide the strongest complement to human drivers.

When there is an oncoming vehicle at an intersection, the 5G car will already know that there will be an oncoming vehicle beyond the human line of sight and will take reasonable and safe measures in advance.

In addition to predicting information around the vehicle body, the capabilities of 5G cars are also reflected beyond the visual range of the human eye.

If there is road construction or an accident ahead, the car will receive situation updates from the 5G cloud in advance and choose to take a detour or avoid the accident in advance.

Unlike the information reported by navigation software users themselves, the information provided to vehicles by 5G is real-time and accurate.

5G cars are not just car-friendly. Pedestrians or other targets connected to the 5G network will also share their location information with approaching vehicles through the cloud. Once the vehicles sense it, they will actively avoid it:

The addition of 5G capabilities to cars has indeed greatly improved the riding experience, but this is not the full potential of 5G cars.

If a large-scale 5G vehicle network is formed in a region, the accident rate will drop significantly and traffic efficiency will also increase accordingly.

Similar concepts have been mentioned since the birth of 5G, but soon these scenarios are no longer just ideas and imaginations.

Because this 5G-enabled smart electric car will soon be on the road in China.

The latest news is that China's first officially authoritative 5G-approved "double-certificate" model has been approved. The smart electric SUV MARVEL R , owned by the veteran national team SAIC Group, will become the first real 5G car in China and even in the world to be allowed to go on the road .

What will it be like to have a true 5G smart car?

First of all, the most important thing is naturally the most concerned about the current autonomous driving capability .

Compared with the capabilities that are becoming increasingly standard in the industry, SAIC's 5G cars first feature 5G V2X remote sensing intelligent driving .

Putting aside professional terms and industry significance, what does 5G-enabled V2X bring to people who actually use cars?

Vehicle to X, Vehicle of course refers to the car, but the meaning of X here is broader, it represents all traffic participants (Everything), including vehicles, infrastructure, people, etc.

For example, when you drive a 5G car through a traffic light intersection, the vehicle uploads the information sent back by the traffic light to the cloud for computing, and the result is then sent back to the car. The onboard system will then give the driver or the autonomous driving system a reference of how fast it is needed to pass the intersection at one time.

In this process, there is both V2I that connects the car to the infrastructure, and V2N that communicates between the car and the cloud.

When you pass this intersection and an accident happens 1 km ahead, the accident vehicle will share the accident and location information with other nearby vehicles through the 5G network, providing you with a reference for changing lanes in advance to avoid the accident, saving a lot of manpower and time costs.

This process reflects another important link in V2X: vehicle-to-vehicle connection (V2V) .

Next, the vehicle drives to an intersection and a pedestrian happens to walk into the blind spot formed by the surrounding obstacles. What should be done?

The 5G network will automatically transmit blind spot images captured by surrounding cameras to the car, and the system will prompt information such as pedestrians crossing the road.

In the blind spots that are invisible to the human eye, accurate pedestrian information can still be obtained to avoid potential accidents. This is a typical application scenario of V2X: vehicle-to-pedestrian interaction (V2P) .

V2V, V2I, V2P, and V2N, these four capabilities summarize the basic content of V2X.

For a car, V2X means telling the vehicle useful traffic road information in advance and providing "guidance".

The realization of V2X will inevitably generate a large amount of data interaction, and only 5G's high speed, large capacity, and low latency can meet the demand.

But 5G V2X is not just about “connection for the sake of connection”.

For example, MARVEL R’s 150m cornering radius assist function requires the collaboration of basic autonomous driving and 5G vehicle networking.

In addition, in terms of high-level autonomous driving functions, automatic assisted lane change, traffic light visual recognition and control, intelligent summoning, integrated fully automatic parking, automatic assisted navigation driving and active obstacle avoidance have all become standard and basic skills.

For example, the smart summoning function allows users to intelligently summon MARVEL R to their side or a designated location with just one click when encountering rainy or snowy weather or carrying heavy objects.

When the vehicle automatically moves towards the owner, it will actively alert the surrounding pedestrians. This is the PACM pedestrian voice warning capability.

In addition to autonomous driving, smart summoning is also a reflection of V2X capabilities, because the process requires interconnection between cars and the cloud, as well as users' 5G mobile phones.

Of course, both automatic parking and smart summoning are part of V2X capabilities, and the process requires interconnection between cars and the cloud, as well as users' 5G mobile phones.

And their basis is the sensing elements of the vehicle itself.

The 5G intelligent driving system independently developed by R Auto is divided into two layers for the MARVEL R.

The first layer is visual perception, which has 11 visual perception hardware including 2 front-view cameras, 4 surround-view cameras, 4 surround-view cameras, and 1 real-view camera.

The second layer is radar perception. The vehicle is equipped with a total of 17 radars, including 5 millimeter-wave radars and 12 ultrasonic radars.

With the 5G basic hardware, this highly redundant solution design can make full use of 5G vehicle networking information to supplement perception capabilities and reduce the burden of driving to a greater extent.

SAIC has developed a "brain" specifically for 5G cars: iBOX .

The iBOX core integrates both Huawei's 5G communication chip Balong 5000 and Intel's Mobileye EyeQ4H autonomous driving computing chip.

This brain is the key to the capabilities of 5G cars. The autonomous driving chip is responsible for local computing tasks, while the 5G chip is responsible for all communications between the vehicle and the outside world.

At present, the complete functions of SAIC's 5G cars can be experienced in the R Auto 5G Smart Transportation Demonstration Zone.

The first batch of 17 scene applications have also been implemented on the mass-produced MARVEL R:

• Smart traffic information service-V2I: traffic light information push/stop and start guidance/red light warning/vehicle speed guidance

• Smart Road Information Service-V2I: Curve Speed ​​Warning/Speed ​​Slowdown Zone Warning/Road Construction Warning/Road Sign Issuance/Road Congestion Warning/Critical Section Warning/Tidal Lane Warning/Speed ​​Limit Warning

• Safety warning services-V2V: emergency brake warning/faulty vehicle reminder/intersection conflict avoidance/emergency vehicle warning/left turn assistance

• Collaborative control services: Intelligent ACC control

After delivery, the vehicle system itself can be upgraded via OTA, and the vehicle functions controlled by 31 ECUs can also be optimized and upgraded.

With the large-scale deployment of 5G infrastructure in my country, 5G's disruptive experience will be delivered to car owners more quickly.

Compared with 4G Internet of Vehicles, what kind of innovation is there?

In July 2020, 3GPP, the global organization for developing 5G standards, just passed Rel-16, which means that 5G Internet of Vehicles has truly started to be implemented under common standards and it is time for it to be used in vehicles.

Compared with the 4G era, the details have been greatly improved.

But the most noteworthy and biggest innovation is V2X vehicle-to-road interconnection, which has turned from a long-standing concept into reality, truly realizing low-latency communication between vehicles and infrastructure (V2I), vehicles to vehicles (V2V), and vehicles to pedestrians (V2P).

5G speeds are hundreds of times faster than 4G, with low latency, and millions of 5G devices can be connected in one area.

Therefore, for vehicle drivers, by sharing data such as location and speed with surrounding vehicles and infrastructure, the V2X system can increase drivers' awareness of upcoming potential dangers.

For example, MARVEL R’s 150m cornering radius assist function and beyond-visual-range VR map building function.

Of course, faster communication efficiency naturally requires stronger terminal computing power. The intelligence level and interactive fluency of 5G cars will also be stronger than those of smart cars in the 4G era.

As for macro-road traffic, once enough 5G cars are deployed on the road, they can significantly improve the ability to avoid collisions, thereby reducing the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents and reducing the severity of losses.

△ Source: IHS Markit

One of the long-term advantages of 5G technology in cars is that it can provide car owners with more advanced and "immersive" services, while also bringing lucrative revenue to automakers and service providers.

In fact, 5G technology may be the key to unlocking the full potential of monetizing connected car data.

Therefore, what 5G brings to cars and travel is not just the experience of "faster internet speed", but it redefines travel and transportation.

The official launch of 5G in cars is no less than the "iPhone" moment in the mobile phone field for all car manufacturers.

This is also the reason why new and old car companies have already rushed to announce 5G cars.

However, SAIC R Auto's MARVEL R has become the first "true 5G" smart car that has been truly licensed and certified, and recognized by the state as legal and compliant to be driven on the road.

Why did the first 5G car access license go to SAIC R?

Car manufacturers have announced their own 5G cars one after another. Why is SAIC R Auto's MARVEL R the only one that can be called a true 5G car?

Because currently MARVEL R is the only 5G car that is legally allowed to access the network.

A 5G car, or any 5G device, needs two certificates to obtain legal status.

The first is SRRC certification.

SRRC is an organization authorized to test and certify radio model approval regulations in mainland my country. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has mandatory regulations that all radio component products sold and used in China must obtain SRRC approval certification.

Only after obtaining this certificate will 5G cars be allowed on the road.

Then there is the 5G terminal telecommunications equipment network access license, which is issued by the State Council’s information industry department in conjunction with the State Council’s product quality supervision department.

Obtaining the network access license means that MARVEL R has obtained official authoritative certification and can officially enter the 5G network and participate in the construction of smart transportation, smart cities, etc.

According to the "Radio Management Regulations of the People's Republic of China", the main content of SRRC approval is to verify the spectrum parameters of radio transmitting equipment, such as frequency, frequency band, transmission power, frequency tolerance, occupied bandwidth (or spectrum characteristics of the transmitted signal), out-of-band emission and spurious emission.

Generally speaking, the application for approval requires three sets of engineering prototypes and one set of finished products. In addition, detailed technical specifications (including hardware and software) are required. After that, an expert group will conduct an evaluation.

You need a soft hand and a hard hand, both hands have to be "hard".

The soft hand lies in the participation and formulation of standards, whether one is the most core player, and whether one has sufficient contribution and voice in the standards.

As early as January 2017, SAIC Group joined 5GAA.

5GAA, the full name of which is 5G Automotive Communication Technology Alliance, is a global cross-industry alliance between the telecommunications and automotive industries established in September 2016. The initiators include Audi, BMW, Daimler and five telecommunications companies - Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm.

△ The earliest members of 5GAA when it was first established

Just like the 3GPP Alliance, which sets standards for the entire 5G industry, the purpose of 5GAA is to communicate the demands of different industries and formulate relevant standards around intelligent vehicle networking technology. (5GAA still follows the technical indicators of 3GPP in specific implementation) .

SAIC, at the outset of 5G vehicles, has gained a say in V2X standards and technical solutions, and can use its own technological accumulation and engineering practices to influence the future development path of 5G vehicles around the world.

Therefore, after the global consensus and standards for 5G are formed, SAIC will be able to quickly launch solutions in accordance with the standards and then obtain compliance certification.

Secondly, in terms of hardware, SAIC has already started preparations a long time ago.

MARVEL R is equipped with the 5G intelligent connected direct communication vehicle terminal i-BOX , which is customized for R brand cars by SAIC's Lianchuang Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. and is currently the only 5G vehicle terminal that can realize 5G V2X function.

Lianchuang Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. was established in 2006 and is wholly owned by SAIC.

So when it comes to technical strength, the R auto brand is supported by the hard-core technology accumulated by SAIC over more than ten years.

On the other hand, from the macro perspective of smart travel, SAIC's plan is in line with my country's 5G planning and development strategy.

Compared with Tesla's focus on single-vehicle intelligent capabilities, SAIC R Auto focuses on both single-vehicle intelligence and vehicle-road collaboration.

Tesla is pursuing fully autonomous driving, placing its overall bet on the intelligent capabilities of a single vehicle, and it is a purely visual solution.

However, considering the rapid deployment of 5G in China and the continuous improvement of related infrastructure, it is more suitable for China's smart car solution to tilt the intelligent capabilities towards vehicle-road collaboration and fully utilize China's 5G advantages.

Therefore, SAIC's 5G car planning was not just about "faster network speed" from the beginning. The core was to target the future 5G transformation and prepare the "infrastructure" of 5G smart transportation in advance.

With a long-term vision and strong sincerity, this is one of the reasons why SAIC has quickly gained national recognition.

Fighting tough battles and tackling tough problems are the strength and responsibility of the national team

Of course, by producing the first 5G smart car approved for road use, SAIC Motor has demonstrated another level of effort that is not easily overlooked by the outside world.

Nowadays, 5G is on everyone's lips. In the automotive industry, slogans such as V2X and smart travel have also been shouted for many years.

However, only by investing real money in research and development and actively participating in standard setting can we have a say in standards and implementation and avoid assembly-style appropriation.

5G is not a gimmick. It is self-developed and self-controlled with the goal of practical implementation. This is the true meaning of "hard" in hard-core technological capabilities.

In the race to advance the four new trends in automobiles (electrification, intelligent networking, sharing, and internationalization) , SAIC R Auto's 5G technology was the first to be installed in vehicles, which indirectly proves SAIC's strong technological strength.

At the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, innovative topics such as "the traffic of a few bundles of cabbage and a few kilograms of fruit" and "hardcore technology" have repeatedly become hot search keywords, from the official to the public.

The People's Daily also commented that we should not just focus on the traffic of a few bundles of cabbage or a few kilograms of fruit... The giants have strong financial resources, a large amount of data resources, and leading digital technology. People expect the giants to not only innovate in business models, but also take on the responsibility of promoting scientific and technological innovation.

SAIC's in-vehicle 5G and smart car overall plan are not only a reflection of its hard-core technological strength, but also a new era of competition for independent discourse power.

Therefore, SAIC's winning of the first 5G smart car to be legally put on the road is not only a reward for its investment in hard technology, but also encourages more national teams and responsible companies to be more courageous in the layout and investment of basic technologies and directions.

If the national team cannot fight hard battles, then the field of smart cars may repeat what happened in the field of smart phones in the past two years.

Now, China has taken the first step towards 5G smart cars.