V2X technology accelerates, paving the way for advanced autonomous driving

With the rapid development of autonomous driving technology, cooperative communication between vehicles is becoming more and more important. As a new type of vehicle communication technology, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) technology realizes information exchange between vehicles and between vehicles and infrastructure through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) collaboration, effectively improving road traffic safety and efficiency. Among V2X technologies, cellular-V2X (C-V2X) based on cellular networks has become the preferred technology for communication between vehicles and between vehicles and roadside infrastructure due to its wide-area coverage and low latency.

V2X technology is accelerating its popularization and has broad development prospects

As a key technology for intelligent connected vehicles, the development of V2X technology has gone through several key stages.

Image source: 5GAA white paper “C-V2X Use Cases and Service Level Requirements”

The first wave of V2X enthusiasm was in 2018-2020. With the release of 3GPP Release 15 and Release 16, V2X technology began to land in the market.

Since BMW announced in 2022 that all future models will be equipped with V2X as standard, the attention and application of V2X technology have increased, ushering in a second wave of enthusiasm. The continuous evolution of 5G, especially the release of Release 17 and Release 18, has provided a higher rate, lower latency, and more reliable communication foundation for V2X applications, promoting the rapid development of V2X technology and the expansion of application scenarios, especially in applications related to traffic efficiency and safety, such as the collection and sharing of traffic information, emergency electronic brake lights, and left turn assistance.

It is worth mentioning that China is relatively advanced in the field of V2X. According to statistics, in 2023, the 5G standard rate of new cars in China will be 7.5%, and the V2X installation rate will be only 1%. The V2X applications deployed on a large scale in these mass-produced vehicles mainly include basic safety applications (such as forward collision warning, emergency electronic brake lights, left turn assistance, etc.) and the sharing of local danger and traffic information.

In the past two years, the country has successively introduced some favorable policies for V2X. For example, on September 27, 2023, the draft of the 2024 version of the China New Car Assessment Program (C-NCAP) was released on the official website of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, and V2X was included in the assessment scope for the first time. The V2X part of the 2024 version of C-NCAP has been added to the ADAS part, and the description of the target vehicle (GVT) in the test items includes "C-V2X network communication capability". Therefore, in theory, all active safety tests can be implemented using V2X. In addition, the 20 pilot cities jointly released by the five major ministries have begun the deployment of "vehicle-road-cloud integration", which will further promote the installation of V2X.

Although V2X technology currently mainly provides early warning and reminder functions, with the maturity of technology and policy support, the functions of V2X will become increasingly rich, and will be more closely integrated with single-vehicle intelligence, gradually participating in the decision-making process and becoming a "crutch" for single-vehicle intelligence.

In terms of technological development, V2X will be combined with new technologies such as high-precision maps (HD Maps) and vehicle-to-pedestrian (VRU) perception after this year. After 2026, C-V2X is expected to be deployed on a large scale in more complex and advanced autonomous driving applications, such as sensor sharing, cooperative driving, and dynamic intersection management.

V2X technology promotes advanced autonomous driving

In the complex traffic environment of the city, although the camera recognition of autonomous vehicles can provide real-time information, there are blind spots in obstructed or complex road conditions (such as intersections), and accuracy cannot be guaranteed. In contrast, V2X communication has the advantages of high real-time performance and unaffected by obstructions, which can make up for the shortcomings of the former. For high-level autonomous driving at L3 and above, the high-quality signals provided by V2X are essential. As for mid- and low-end models, V2X can provide more basic assisted driving functions, such as navigation and collision warning, to improve driving safety.

Therefore, V2X communication technology has become an important means to solve the limited visibility range of single-vehicle sensors and is also an important part of achieving highly automated driving.

However, when adding V2X functions to existing smart driving software, developers face limitations in scene construction, traffic light settings, and the inability to automatically generate V2X messages from high-precision maps. This is because existing autonomous driving test scenario simulation tools lack certain key functions and can only rely on temporary and less automated solutions.

As V2X technology continues to develop, close coordination between vehicles, roads and clouds will become particularly important. It is difficult for any one party to independently complete the construction of the V2X system, and cooperation in the industry has become a key force in promoting the implementation of this technology.

Just as ZeroBeam Technology, which plays an innovator and pioneer in the field of V2X mass-produced vehicle applications, is enhancing the environmental perception and decision-making capabilities of autonomous vehicles through V2X technology, using real-time data exchange between vehicles (V2V), vehicles and infrastructure (V2I), and vehicles and networks (V2N) to achieve beyond-line-of-sight traffic information acquisition, thereby overcoming the limitations of traditional sensors in bad weather or obstructed vision. By integrating V2X communication modules, autonomous driving systems can predict and prevent potential traffic risks, optimize driving strategies through collaborative decision-making between vehicles and between vehicles and traffic signal systems, and improve road safety and traffic efficiency.

Optimizing collision warning at urban intersections using V2X communication

In the process of enhancing and accelerating autonomous driving, ZeroBeam Technology has benefited from the product and technical service support of MathWorks and has efficiently developed a vehicle collision warning simulation scenario for intersections. Intersections are very typical intelligent driving blind spot scenarios, which can give full play to the function of V2X blind spot filling. ZeroBeam Technology uses MathWorks' Simulink test bench model and RoadRunner scenario for simulation, which can simulate the complex situation of V2X system in the actual traffic environment, test various modules in the autonomous driving system, ensure the full verification of functions, and reduce risks in actual applications.

Image source: MathWorks 2024 China Automotive Annual Conference, using Simulink test bench and RoadRunner Scenario to jointly simulate intersection warning

As a design, test, and simulation tool for V2X functions in autonomous driving fusion scenarios, RoadRunner is mainly used to create static and dynamic scenarios, such as complex road networks, traffic signals, vehicles, pedestrians, and other environmental elements. RoadRunner itself can support the import and export of different high-precision maps. On this basis, MathWorks and ZeroBeam Technology have developed a number of new functions for intelligent connected car applications based on the V2X standard, including automated processing of high-definition map information, configuration and interaction of traffic light timing signals, etc. RoadRunner provides a useful tool that can automatically generate MAP and SPaT messages from high-definition maps, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of SIL (software in the loop) testing. After the industrial computer with the RoadRunner SIL test environment installed is connected to the test instrument, automated HIL testing can be achieved.

In this system, Simulink is responsible for the calculation and control of intelligent driving functions and generates output results based on input. Through information exchange between Simulink and RoadRunner, the simulation environment can interact with the actual algorithm to simulate the dynamic behavior and decision-making process of the vehicle.

Image source: MathWorks 2024 China Automotive Annual Conference

In addition, the two parties also focused on developing functions related to traffic lights, especially how V2X communication interacts with the timing signals of traffic lights. Through these developments, vehicles can know the status of traffic lights at the intersection ahead in advance and take corresponding measures in time.

The collaboration between ZeroBeam Technology and MathWorks has brought the following technological innovations and industry advantages:

Accuracy in simulation and testing : Using MATLAB and Simulink for V2X platform development makes simulation and testing more accurate.

Efficient function development: RoadRunner provides high-precision map information extraction and processing capabilities, supporting the automatic generation of map messages in V2X applications. This simulation capability helps development teams test the performance and safety of V2X systems in a virtual environment, thereby improving development efficiency and reducing the time and cost required for physical testing.

Reduce costs and improve safety: V2X technology enhances the interaction between vehicles and infrastructure through real-time communication, providing higher safety assurance. For example, through V2X technology, vehicles can obtain the status of intersection signals in advance, thereby optimizing decisions and reducing the probability of accidents. At the same time, the integration of V2X technology enables effective assisted driving functions to be implemented on low-cost hardware, making the popularization of high-level functions more economical.