With the release of 5G commercial licenses, what applications will be available in the automotive industry?

The issuance of 5G commercial licenses is probably the hottest topic today, and people from all walks of life are rushing to announce the first year of "5G". As an automotive technology media, "5G" commercialization has arrived ahead of schedule, and what applications are expected to be implemented in the automotive industry are the topics we are most concerned about. At present, major automobile manufacturers and intelligent transportation service providers have not disclosed relevant information. Therefore, we start with the three service providers among the four companies that have obtained the 5G commercial licenses to see what kind of exploration and layout they have previously made in the automotive industry?

　　China Mobile

　　At the beginning of this year, China Mobile established the first "5G" exhibition hall in China on Changshou Road in Shanghai. AutoLab also visited it on site (please click the original text for details). The content about 5G+cars was presented by a video played on a large screen. The video shows China Mobile's exploration of 5G+cars - the concept of "5G remote formation autonomous driving", that is, humans remotely control the corresponding "autonomous driving vehicle" through the operation of the vehicle simulation controller.

　　In 2018, China Mobile and Great Wall demonstrated the "5G remote formation autonomous driving" technology in Xiong'an New Area. After deploying 5G base stations in the test area, the 5G network was used to control the test vehicle 20 kilometers away, successfully completing routine operations such as starting, acceleration, deceleration, and steering.

　　This is the autonomous driving technology that is expected to be realized the fastest after the commercialization of "5G". Under good communication conditions, it can remotely control the vehicle in dangerous areas and complete related tasks more safely, avoiding humans from being in danger.

　　China Unicom

　　During the Shanghai Auto Show, China Unicom and WEY announced their cooperation on "5G" cars. Prior to this, China Unicom also signed a cooperation agreement with BMW, promising to provide BMW with connected driving services based on the next generation of network communication technology. If we trace back to earlier, China Unicom established a subsidiary focusing on the field of Internet of Vehicles in 2015 - Unicom Smart Network, which cooperated with many car companies to provide them with 4G in-vehicle network services. In this market, China Unicom occupies nearly 80% of the market share.

　　Although the door to commercial use of 5G has been opened, the promotion of 5G is destined to be a slow process due to the high cost of building 5G infrastructure and the high price of 5G mobile phones. I am not afraid of being laughed at by everyone, but 4G was first commercially used in early 2014, but I did not buy my first 4G device - iPhone 6 - until I graduated from university in 2016. At that time, many people around me were still using 2G (in cities in the Midwest).

　　What does all this mean? To connect to 5G, you need to use a terminal device that supports 5G. There are two types of devices available. One is to directly change to a 5G mobile phone (expensive and limited), and the other is to connect to 5G through a CPE device, then turn on WIFI, and use the phone to connect to WIFI to enjoy it indirectly. Now many cars have in-car WIFI functions. After 5G is commercially available, perhaps the first time you enjoy the 5G takeoff feeling is not with your mobile phone, but with the WIFI in your car.

　　China Telecom

　　Like China Unicom and China Mobile, China Telecom has also frequently signed cooperation agreements with major OEMs in recent years, but at present, it is all loud thunder and little rain, and no substantial projects have been found. However, one thing is worth mentioning that China Telecom has absolute dominance in the "Skynet System" that covers every corner of our lives, and almost all of the signal boxes used are China Telecom's.

　　According to a news report last year about the "Capital Airport Smart Transportation Experimental Project", China Telecom has added a "smart brain" to the traffic lights, which diverts and guides traffic through intelligent signal timing optimization, and the overall optimization effect has increased by more than 30%, significantly improving the traffic efficiency at the Capital Airport intersection during morning and evening peak hours. China Telecom is the first telecom operator in China to enter the field of smart transportation, and has deployed smart transportation systems in many cities including Beijing, Jiangsu, Fujian, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, and Gansu.

　　At this stage, the intelligent transportation system is only realized through cameras + algorithms, and there is still a lot of room for improvement. If the data collected by cameras in the streets and alleys can be transmitted to a central brain through the efficient transmission of 5G, and more precise calculations can be performed on larger data volumes, the traffic efficiency will be greatly improved.

　　The above is only a practical analysis based on the existing business of the three major operators. The three major operators’ exploration of 5G+ automotive applications goes far beyond the relatively distant applications, including smart driving, V2X vehicle-road collaboration, high-precision maps, cloud intelligence platforms, etc. Li Zhenyu, general manager of Baidu’s Intelligent Driving Business Group, once said: "The integration of 5G and autonomous driving can make autonomous driving safer, more reliable, more economical, and have more room for innovative imagination. The 5G network enhances mobile bandwidth, supports lower latency, higher reliability and greater transmission rates, which greatly improves the safety of autonomous driving, which can be said to be of great significance. At the same time, as vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-person communication, and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication become smoother and more stable, 5G will bring a better autonomous driving experience and lower autonomous driving industry costs, and accelerate the implementation of autonomous driving."

　　But then again, how much can 5G accelerate the development of autonomous driving? It is still unknown at present. The excitement shown by all parties at this stage has not brought any visible results. Perhaps this enthusiasm is just due to the panic of the giants about missing the opportunity to seize the 5G battlefield and the gimmick of attracting attention. As for the development speed of 5G commercialization, the spectators should remain calm.