Europe’s first live C-V2X interoperability between 2W, PV and infra demonstrated

The Connected Vehicle to Everything of Tomorrow (ConVeX) consortium which was formed last year to carry out the first C-V2X (Cellular-Vehicle to Everything) trial based upon the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) Release 14, held the demonstration in Ingolstadt, Germany.

The consortium consisting of Audi, Ducati, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Swarco, and Technical University of Kaiserslautern collaborated to demonstrate advanced connected car capabilities for road safety and traffic efficiency.

The consortium today announced Europe’s first live demonstration for C-V2X direct communication interoperability between a motorcycle, vehicles and roadside infrastructure. The  demonstration featured Audi Q7, Audi A4, as well as a Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro equipped with C-V2X technology utilising the Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X chipset solution. The showcase demonstrated common situations that can take place between motorcycles and vehicles, and how C-V2X technology can be used to improve road safety.

These included – Intersection Collision Warning, where a vehicle equipped with C-V2X technology pulls out from a junction with an adjoining road and avoids hitting a motorcycle rider who has the right of way; Across Traffic Turn Collision Risk Warning, in which a vehicle avoids a left turn collision with a motorcycle.

These cases are part of a wider set of advanced applications that have been demonstrated through the ConVeX project, which also involves vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication using roadside infrastructure units developed by Swarco and vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication using Ericsson’s 4G/5G cellular test network operated at the motorway A9 German digital test field. 

The consortium is co-funded by the participating organisations and the German Federal Ministry of Transportation and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) within the scope of the ‘Automated and Connected Driving on Digital Test Fields in Germany’ program.

As a part of the consortium’s ongoing efforts to support the commercial deployment of C-V2X technology, the partners are continuing to conduct field trials throughout the year to demonstrate the benefits of using a unified C-V2X connectivity platform, as defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) Release 14 standard, to showcase range, reliability, and latency advantages for real-time C-V2X direct communications. The goal is to highlight new use cases that are expected to help support traffic flow optimisation, improve safety, and pave the path towards automated driving. 

During the trials, C-V2X direct communications for Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) scenarios operates over the 5.9 GHz ITS spectrum without the need for a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), cellular subscription or network assistance. Complementing direct communication transmissions, network-based communications is designed to utilise the wireless operator’s 4G and emerging 5G wireless networks for Vehicle-to-Network (V2N) communication and operates over licensed operator spectrum to support telematics, connected infotainment, and a growing variety of advanced informational safety use cases. V2N scenarios for the trials operates on Ericsson’s 4G and 5G test network in Germany in the cellular 2.6GHz band.  

C-V2X technology is supported by a broad global automotive and telecom ecosystem, which includes the fast growing 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), in which Audi, Ericsson, and Qualcomm are amongst the co-founders.  The 5GAA involves over 85 members comprised of many leading automakers, Tier-1 suppliers, software developers, mobile operators, semiconductor companies, test equipment vendors, telecom suppliers, traffic signal suppliers, and road operators.  

Christoph Voigt, head of development connectivity, mobile communications, Car2X Technologies for Audi and chairman, 5GAA said: “The demonstration of safety use cases with 3GPP compliant C-V2X technology within the ConVeX project between vehicles and motorcycles gives an outlook into the key role that vehicle-to-vehicle and 5G wireless technologies will play in the future of Audi and in the automotive industry. As the ConVeX project trials continue, the project partners will further showcase benefits to road users in safety and other areas, using technology to deliver safer, smoother journeys with less environmental impact.”

Pierluigi Zampieri, vehicle innovation manager, Ducati Motor Holding said: “This is the perfect demonstration of use cases in which the modern technologies can drastically improve the safety of future motorcycle users. Indeed, the C-V2X communication is definitely one of the key projects of the Ducati 2025 safety road map.”

Stefan Koetz, chairman of the management board of Ericsson said: “At Ericsson, we are convinced that with our Connected Car technology we can contribute to more safety on the roads. This is why we are currently focusing on 5G-based mobility solutions like C-V2X, whether in test series like today's ConVeX trials or large-scale test fields, such as the 5G Connected Mobility testbed on the A9.”

Wassim Chourbaji, vice president of government affairs, Qualcomm EMEA, said: “The ConVeX project is developing C-V2X technology, with deployments now getting underway and commercialisation coming in 2019, so that C-V2X can help provide the life-saving safety benefits that have created so much global interest in the technology. As a leader in 5G innovation, Qualcomm is working with the ConVeX project to further enhance C-V2X in 3GPP as we enable the evolution to 5G NR, making possible advanced capabilities such as intent and sensor sharing which support automated driving.”

Michael Schuch, COO, Swarco, said: "SWARCO is proud to be the first traffic infrastructure company integrating C-V2X into our solution portfolio as C-V2X becomes part of our ‘C-ITS Ready’ products. The standardised and direct interchange between vehicles and traffic control is an unprecedented potential for traffic managers. At Swarco, we are engaged to make the new link towards vehicles available for our infrastructure customers."