Satelittes, 5G and connected cars
So, I've noticed that there is a fair bit of noise about 5G and the car industry. When I was involved with this a few years back, I was hearing on the grapevine that we all have to wait for 2020 and 5G will be the saviour and that will make all cars interconnected, they'll have their own network and it'll handle the load etc...
Time has gone by.
I then just recently saw a couple of articles that were mentioning some ideas that raised my eyebrows. This one is proposing to use the same sort of techniques that we used to use in the good old mobile development days when we would detect if the device was connected to a network, determine what network, then determine what it is that the user is wanting to do and then switch accordingly. Wow, that just took me back to 1999-2003! The theory was good, so not surprised it's being suggested here....but really.... satellites!
In a similar vein, if you've got all your cars autonomously motoring along using whatever network to send/receive data then what data could you actually be capturing / using?
Check out this article for more info on LiDAR, Radar or Camera? Demystifying the ADAS / AD Technology mix
The growth of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) solutions is the catalyst for the adoption of several types of sensors being incorporated into vehicles. Radars, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors have become the industry standard, answering the call for advancements in road safety. And now, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology has been added to the list and is actively being deployed in vehicles on the production line. This article looks at demystifying the current technology mix.
Talking of LiDAR - here's a new offering that claims to cover the blind-spot and dead-zones:
All very interesting stuff..... and I'm sure we'll be reading / seeing and actually having more of this in the new vehicles that are going to be out and about on our roads.
As for me.....I'll stick with my 60 year old car, with no-technology in it, thanks!
Time has gone by.
I then just recently saw a couple of articles that were mentioning some ideas that raised my eyebrows. This one is proposing to use the same sort of techniques that we used to use in the good old mobile development days when we would detect if the device was connected to a network, determine what network, then determine what it is that the user is wanting to do and then switch accordingly. Wow, that just took me back to 1999-2003! The theory was good, so not surprised it's being suggested here....but really.... satellites!
Cellular internet connectivity can be provided from terrestrial cell towers, which tend to offer fast speeds but over short ranges, or via satellites that can offer faster speeds over greater ranges – at a much higher cost.
Trouble arises when a connected car is moving through rural, largely-unconnected environments which do not have any regular terrestrial cellular connectivity.
TU-Automotive spoke to Tom Freeman, SVP of Kymeta’s connected car division, and Ben Posthuma, Connectivity Solutions Manager, about how satellite technology can be used on cars.
“Every time we go to the next generation of cellular technology, we shorten the distance each one of these transmitters have, so outside of urban environments the signal may not reach. Cars, by their nature, have a tendency to travel out of dense urban areas where 5G is. Plus, these transmitters are ugly!” Freeman said when I asked about how suitable 5G was for use in cars.
....
Somewhat surprisingly, this works by using technology that exists in our televisions, together with a ‘flat panel’ satellite antenna. “Our core technology is a beam forming flat panel satellite antenna; a flat panel antenna that is based on LCD technology. So the same technology that is in your TV – we use the pixels in the antenna, just like the pixels on TV are used to form a picture, we’re using the pixels on the antenna to be able to form a beam and point and track the satellite,” Freeman told me.
Furthermore, the system can automatically decide what signal to use for what application, as Freeman explains. “We are basically using algorithms to understand what is the best way of connecting for the type of traffic the user is demanding. So if the user wants to get Netflix, the system understands they want to stream video, the cellular link is the best link to do that on right now. Or if they want to send an email, the system recognises perhaps the satellite link is the best way to do that right now. So it will use that link.”
This is what Freeman calls “the secret sauce”: the system doesn’t have to choose between different connectivity solutions, but can use different solutions for different applications, based on those algorithms. “So that’s the secret sauce of what we’re building here. It doesn’t necessarily choose one or the other, it’s going to take a number of different inputs. So the type of traffic being requested, who the user is, what they’re doing, what kind of subscription they have.”
In a similar vein, if you've got all your cars autonomously motoring along using whatever network to send/receive data then what data could you actually be capturing / using?
Check out this article for more info on LiDAR, Radar or Camera? Demystifying the ADAS / AD Technology mix
The growth of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) solutions is the catalyst for the adoption of several types of sensors being incorporated into vehicles. Radars, cameras, and ultrasonic sensors have become the industry standard, answering the call for advancements in road safety. And now, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology has been added to the list and is actively being deployed in vehicles on the production line. This article looks at demystifying the current technology mix.
Talking of LiDAR - here's a new offering that claims to cover the blind-spot and dead-zones:
Introducing the Leddar Pixell, a 3D flash LiDAR with 180-degree field of view specifically designed for ADAS and autonomous driving applications. The Leddar Pixell provides highly reliable detection of pedestrians, cyclists and other obstacles in the vehicle’s vicinity and is ideal for use in perception platforms that are meant to ensure the safety and protection of vulnerable road users (VRU).
The robust, solid-state Pixell compensates for the limitations of mechanical scanning LiDARs used for geo-positioning which generate blind areas that can reach several meters. The Pixell enables a comprehensive detection cocoon that surrounds the vehicle to provide complete blind spot coverage with no dead zones.
Leddar Pixell has already been adopted by leading autonomous vehicle providers in North America and Europe and is available today for commercial deployments.
All very interesting stuff..... and I'm sure we'll be reading / seeing and actually having more of this in the new vehicles that are going to be out and about on our roads.
As for me.....I'll stick with my 60 year old car, with no-technology in it, thanks!
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