How can automobile manufacturing integrate 5G Internet of Vehicles technology with mobile operations?

Executives from the telecom industry gathered last week in Barcelona, ​​Spain, for the Mobile World Congress, where they discussed the promise of 5G. Despite years of talk, the next generation of cellular networks is only beginning to take shape.

5G networks can ensure faster transmission speeds and shorter delays. US telecommunications companies AT&T, Huawei, Nokia, Vodafone and related large network companies have begun laying 5G mobile networks. This has a huge impact on the automotive industry. However, experts say that in the next few years, the coverage area will still not be sufficient, and even some rural areas may not be able to enjoy 5G networks.

The auto industry, which lagged behind in the smartphone era, is still figuring out how 5G's ultra-fast connectivity will change cars. Executives from Ford, BMW, Daimler, Toyota and Continental all traveled to Barcelona to learn more about 5G networks.

What is not clear is whether the automotive industry really needs to delve into the world of 5G?

Roger Lanctot, an analyst at Strategy Analyst TI cs, also pointed out: "Communications operators want to confirm that network connectivity is necessary to achieve autonomous driving. The Mobile World Congress showed another situation. Operators are either not committed to studying this agenda or they are not very clear about how to achieve it." After all, there are only a few companies that understand both cars and chips, such as Mobileye.

5G's large capacity meets the needs of self-driving cars for large amounts of data transmission, but how to apply it reliably is a question that car companies are thinking about. When should car manufacturers jump on the 5G fashion train? How should they jump on it? The answers to the following three questions may help to solve some of the doubts.

Q: We’ve been hearing about 5G for years. Why should we pay attention to it now?

A: Some companies have already outlined plans to build infrastructure for 5G connectivity between 2018 and 2020. This means that some markets will be able to start using 5G networks soon.

AT&T, for example, will launch a mobile 5G network in 12 home cities by the end of 2018, and Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia have begun supplying hardware for the advanced connected infrastructure that will go live in 2019.

5G has also become a battleground for the United States to compete with major countries such as China, trying to become a leader in the 5G field. Last week, Brendan Carr, the commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) who is responsible for regulating television broadcasting, outlined the measures taken by the FCC to accelerate the deployment of 5G.

“The global race is on. Other countries are well aware of our leadership in 4G and are now questioning our resolve to take a deregulatory approach and remain a leader in 5G.”

Q: 5G is very useful for smartphones. Why is it also important for cars?

A: General Motors and other automakers have gradually installed applications such as OnStar in their cars. Drivers can buy coffee locally through the central control panel and enjoy automatic collision assistance, emergency rescue services, manual navigation and vehicle condition detection services. With the launch of many car-connected systems, manufacturers such as General Motors are gradually looking forward to 5G networks to support and diagnose OnStar. A research report from Chetan Sharma Consulting shows that in 2017, more cars were connected to the US wireless infrastructure rather than to mobile phones.

The rise of 5G networks allows operators to take out some network slices (Network slicing) to provide extremely fast response speeds for automotive safety applications. Network slicing will play an important role in 5G networks, and each network slice will easily configure network elements and functions to meet specific application requirements.

Telecommunications and other communications companies hope they can become key players in the future of autonomous driving by providing the rock-solid networks used by driverless cars for V2X (vehicle-to-everything) and the computer clusters that process the vast amounts of data collected by onboard sensors.

“The connectivity of everything in the car is the most exciting thing we’re doing in the automotive industry,” said Patrick Little, senior vice president of Qualcomm’s automotive business. “If you can’t connect to the cloud, you’re not going anywhere.”

Q: What can automakers do besides sit back and wait?

A: As mobile operators develop network technology, they will have the opportunity to connect to the network and begin testing services and business models. It will be several years before they can make large-scale applications possible.

At the CES in January 2018, Ford announced that it would work with Qualcomm to develop cellular communications-based vehicle networking technology in preparation for the eventual 5G network.

How automakers integrate 5G car networking technology with mobile operators and set interconnection charging standards remains an open question. In the past, Daimler and Vodafone, GM and AT&T have cooperated to provide in-car mobile services. Then, they charge consumers for car networking in the form of in-car data packages.

Now, some automakers are looking for neutral third parties to provide networking services from multiple operators. For example, Volkswagen Group invested in a Dublin-based startup Cubic Telecom last year. As a connectivity solution provider, Cubic Telecom is a panacea between vehicle manufacturers and local mobile operators, allowing automakers to achieve vehicle networking in different cities, eliminating the trouble and cost of arranging network agreements with operators in each country.