Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - 5GCAR (Fifth Generation Communication Automotive Research and innovation)

Teaser

In society today, the cars and the road infrastructure would benefit from increased communication among one another to share information and with the increased knowledge being able to take better decisions. This could for instance help to reduce the injury costs, perhaps even...

Summary

In society today, the cars and the road infrastructure would benefit from increased communication among one another to share information and with the increased knowledge being able to take better decisions. This could for instance help to reduce the injury costs, perhaps even to such a point that we have a society where there are no injuries caused where cars are directly involved.
With more efficient traffic coordination less traffic jams would lead to decreased emission and thereby less pollution. This would be even further enhanced due to reduced number of needed cars, which also would lead to saving road service and reduced number of parking lots. In short, there are many societal benefits of a 5G enabled Intelligent Transport System (ITS). To enable such ITS system the overall objective of the 5GCAR project is to design, develop and showcase a system for a mobile radio access network (RAN) to support advanced V2X communication needs (e.g., for automation levels 4-5) and build the technical foundation for 5G V2X standardisation, and build a common understanding across the telecommunications and automotive sectors. To achieve this, the main objectives of 5GCAR are:
• Objective 1: Develop an overall 5G system architecture providing optimized end-to-end V2X network connectivity for highly reliable and low-latency V2X services, which supports security and privacy, manages Quality-of-Service (QoS) and provides traffic flow management in a multi-RAT and multi-link V2X communication system.
• Objective 2: Interworking of multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) that allows embedding existing communication solutions (including short range technologies, IEEE 802.11p) and novel 5G V2X solutions.
• Objective 3: Develop an efficient, secure and scalable side-link interface for low-latency, high-reliability V2X communications leveraging 3GPP solutions.
• Objective 4: Propose 5G radio-assisted positioning techniques for both Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) and vehicles to increase the availability of very accurate localization.
• Objective 5: Identify innovative business models and spectrum usage alternatives that support a wide range of 5G V2X services, which drive the functional design of the 5G V2X architecture.
• Objective 6: Demonstrate and validate the developed concepts and evaluate the quantitative benefits of 5G V2X solutions using highly and fully automated driving scenarios in test sites.
• Objective 7: Contribute to 5G standardization and regulatory bodies for enabling radio-supported automated driving solutions.
• Objective 8: Collaborate and integrate the 5G V2X radio access network concepts of the 5GCAR project into the overall 5G RAN framework, through participation in the 5G PPP initiatives and events and interaction with other projects.

Work performed

Based on previous work 5GCAR started by defining five use case classes where the identified vehicle-to-anything (V2X) challenges were grouped. One representative use case was then selected from each class. The key performance indicators (KPIs) and requirements (automotive requirements, network requirements and qualitative requirements) were then derived for the five selected use cases. These five 5GCAR use cases are the ones that the project focuses on, although the intention is that results for the selected use cases should also be relevant for the respective use case classes. The 5GCAR use cases are: Lane merge, See-through, Network assisted vulnerable pedestrian protection, High definition local map acquisition, and Remote driving for automated parking.

The value chain may be disrupted by 5G, driven by new 5G technologies, as well as changing eco-systems around the connected car, where a rapid digitization of existing industries is complemented by new types of digital and industrial stakeholders. On the high level we could argue that the two key technology enablers are: an innovative Radio Access Technology (RAT) for V2X communications, and the virtualization of the communications network from the radio to the core. The innovative RAT for V2X communications is enabling both infrastructure based and sidelink based communications (direct communication between devices, a.k.a. Device to Device, D2D, communications). The virtualization of all the elements of the end-to-end communication network allows for a highly dynamic and reconfigurable setting of the infrastructure.

In the spectrum analysis we work to identify appropriate spectrum usage alternatives for enabling advanced ITS and automotive service applications using 5G technologies. This includes a conducted survey of the already designated frequency bands that are under consideration for 5G technologies on their suitability for V2X communications in different regions of the world. As the technical 5GCAR results mature the spectrum analysis will be followed up on those solutions.

The radio interface design developed in the project supports both infrastructure-based and sidelink based communications as well as integration of both transmission modes in a hybrid concept. Individual radio enablers and their integration into a holistic concept are evaluated by means of link and system level simulations.

Various technology components solving the limitations of the current generation networks have also been developed, and advancements in network slicing studied as an enabler for supporting multiple and diverse types of traffic flow generated by automotive applications. End-to-end architectural solutions have been proposed including multi-operator support, and scheduling optimizations to deal with localized V2X traffic. Quality of Service and flow management in multi-link and multi-radio access configurations have been the object of research, being essential to ensure the strict requirements of automated driving. Security and privacy alike are domains of primary importance, including both application-specific secure message exchanges between groups of vehicular UEs.

In addition to the theoretical work, hands on full-scale demonstrations are being prepared for the end of the project on three of the 5GCAR use cases to showcase the potential with a 5G network. 5GCAR was, as one of three phase 2 projects, representing 5G PPP at the Mobile World Congress 2018.

Final results

The 5GCAR project is half way through its journey. With one more year to go we are building towards the final demonstrations where the three use cases of Lane merge, Cooperative perception for maneuvers of connected vehicles, and Vulnerable road user protection will all be realized together with 5GCAR technical solutions. Other technical components and architectural solutions will, at least for now, be evaluated purely on theoretical and simulations as well as from non-technical aspects such as business and spectrum.

Coverage is one of the more critical aspects to create a strong and beneficial socio-economic impact with a 5G V2X system. It is key to enable connected areas not only in the large cities but also in more rural areas. During the development stage specific areas to be secured as test areas, mainly those targeting safety applications, should rather be outside of the cities and then be expanded towards the cities as the systems improve. To first place outside e.g. on highway or smaller roads – with less vulnerable road users and less unforeseen problems – one can then learn and move with more and more secure and improved systems towards the more populated areas.

Website & more info

More info: https://5gcar.eu/.