Vehicle-To-Everything (V2X)

Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)

Enabling Smarter, Safer, and Greener Transportation

Vehicle-To-Everything (V2X)Contents

Thank you for reading Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)

Introduction

A Brief Summary of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)

Why V2X is Important

Barriers to the Large-scale Implementation of V2X

LTTS’ Role in Facilitating V2X Testing

LTTS Edge

Conclusion

References

ABSTRACT

For over two decades, the potential and prospects of connected vehicles have been a staple feature in the technological discourse. However, the lack of a globally accepted standard for V2X communication is one of the main hurdles preventing the deployment of connected cars, en masse.

Besides, the two enabling technologies—DSRC and C-V2X—are incompatible with each other but have strong backing from various industry players and governments. That said, V2X implementation is gaining momentum in key regions after years of incubation, thanks, in large part, to the 5G boost. Research reveals that there will be about 35.1 million V2X-enabled vehicles on the road by 2025. This calls for rigorous and exhaustive testing at scale to start sooner than later.

INTRODUCTION

The number of things that are connected and can communicate with each other in real-time is surging by the minute. From smart home appliances to intelligent office systems, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine interactions are a part of people’s daily lives today. When everything is connected, why should something as ubiquitous as cars and vehicles not be?

This question has garnered, rightly so, much traction and interest from all quarters of the technology universe in recent years. As a result of the research and investment in this direction, new technology is steadily transitioning from theory to reality. It is called the connected vehicle technology (CVT) and is poised to be a paradigm-altering innovation in the automotive arena, if not the world.

A Brief Summary of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)

CVT-enabled vehicles commonly referred to as connected cars or connected vehicles, feature sensors and connectivity equipment that interact with other sensors and connectivity equipment within the same car and outside the car. The technology relies on four types of communication:

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V): vehicles directly interacting with other vehicles
Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I): vehicles interacting with traffic systems, gas stations, parking systems, and other relevant infrastructural components
Vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P): vehicles interacting with nearby pedestrians
Vehicle-to-network (V2N): vehicles interacting with cloud, edge data centers, and hyperscalers

The whole ecosystem of communication in CVT is collectively termed vehicle-to-everything (V2X). It provides highly reliable, real-time data streams that are also analyzed in real-time to enable safe, efficient, and economical transportation. Importantly, V2X also lays the foundation for the sci-fi inspiring and much anticipated fully autonomous vehicles.

Currently, there are two different communication methodologies used to create a V2X ecosystem:

Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC):
This is the more established and widely used methodology among the two, especially in Europe and the US. It is based on the IEEE standard 802.11p, which is a variant of the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi protocol that operates within the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band at 5.9 GHz of WLAN. This spectrum is used for DSRC connectivity mostly for V2I interactions and, in a limited scope, for V2V as well. DSRC is built-in and does not depend on any communication device, which is why it is suitable to facilitate V2X in less-developed places. It is not affected by weather conditions like snow, rain, fog, or wind, but, on the flip side, its low-latency communication capability limits its range to under one kilometer (0.6 miles).

Cellular V2X (C-V2X):
Also referred to as LTE-V2X, C-V2X is a new methodology compared to DSRC, but equally prevalent nonetheless, particularly in China, due to heavy backing from 5GAA, Qualcomm, the telecom industry, and several automobile majors such as Audi, BMW, and Ford. Since it pivots on the existing SIM technology and cellular networks, the communication range of this methodology is up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in radius, much larger than that of DSRC. The downside of this methodology is that its dependence on 5G, 4G, and LTE networks results in higher latency. C-V2X allows the driver or the occupants of the vehicle to select between V2V, V2I, V2P, and V2N modes of operation.

Why V2X is Important

The key drivers of R&D and investments for V2X are its projected long-term and revolutionary benefits, such as road safety, traffic efficiency, and energy savings, to name a few. In addition, the infrastructure is relatively simple to install and does not rely on a particular operator or involve cellular costs. C2X can help to ease traffic flow by letting cars further back on the road know that there is a problem ahead and to slow down or take a different route to avoid a pileup or traffic snarl. Similarly, by leveraging the internet, the technology can also facilitate concierge services offered by third parties or automakers, alerting drivers about the time to leave in order to reach the destination as scheduled on digital calendars.

Here are a few pertinent use cases that highlight the benefits of V2X:

Road safety: V2X can accurately detect and alert the driver to pedestrians, cyclists, and road conditions that may cause accidents. Connected cars can apply the brakes before human drivers can react, and simultaneously alert vehicles behind them to reduce their speed. A V2X-enabled, electronic, emergency brake light can warn the driver of a vehicle that another vehicle nearby, which may not be visible to the driver, is braking. Besides, real-time data generated in a V2X ecosystem can be fed into simulation models to optimize routes, which decreases the overall travel time and increases travel safety.

Cost savings: The US DOT estimates that V2X can save up to $871 billion annually in the country. Traffic congestions cause delays in supply chains that result in loss of business, higher OpEx, and reduced productivity. In Europe, traffic congestions cost nearly €100 billion annually. With V2X, drivers can detect congestion-causing road conditions in advance and react accordingly. The consequent smooth flow of vehicles results in higher fuel efficiency and reduced spending on fuel.

Time savings: V2X helps to reduce traffic congestion and optimize traffic flow, saving time for commuters. When cars communicate with road signs, traffic lights, other vehicles, and traffic management centers, they automatically know the best route from point A to point B. For example, traffic lights can tell cars at which speed they have to travel to catch the green light. Connected cars can also provide real-time traffic data to transport authorities for better road management and improved infrastructure planning.

Environmental protection: V2X can reduce the impact of transportation on the environment. Cars traveling in free-flow conditions use less fuel, resulting in lower emissions and less fuel consumption, which, in turn, reduces the depletion of natural resources. For example, self-driving vehicles can follow each other with very little distance between them. This technique leads to less fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.

Barriers to the Large-scale Implementation of V2X

The fusion of physical and cyber realities is always complex. Even the world of science fiction seemingly never tires of the theme. V2X is a perfect example of this complexity. Connected vehicles are influenced by not just the physical environment—road, traffic, pedestrians, for example—but also by cyber entities such as the network, signal interferences, and more. To add to that, the performance of V2X software applications is affected by latency, throughput, cybersecurity, accessibility, and other similar factors. Certain safety features of a typical V2X application, like autopilot, demand very low latency and highly reliable connectivity infrastructure. These factors clearly underline how important it is to rigorously test both, the physical and cyber components of V2X. Without extensive and multi-layered verification, faulty technology can lead to life-threatening accidents, catastrophic privacy breaches with long-term consequences, and massive traffic management challenges.

LTTS’ Role in Facilitating V2X Testing

LTTS provides fully integrated, turnkey solutions for testing V2X equipment and applications. Depending on the test target, a GNSS RF simulation can be an important component in the test system. The same hardware and software components are also used for the seamless integration of V2X/GNSS in a complete ADAS Innovation in Test environment. Built on this modular concept, LTTS has meticulously crafted open loop and closed loop test solutions. The modular design ensures that the test system is iterative and can constantly adapt to the changing requirements of the future, without losing existing investments in the testing technology.

Below are a few salient features of LTTS’ V2X testing solutions:

V2X test-specific workflows
Compliance with EU and US standards
Pre-defined, day-1 use case test catalog
Integration of RF measurements
802.11p and LTE-V low-level communication standards
Flexibility to choose between C-V2X testing and DSRC testing
Precise replay of scenarios (open loop) by tight synchronization of the physical streams
Integration with scenario generators like IPG CarMaker
User-configurable hardware and software modules
Open interfaces for integration of customer-specific hardware
Open interfaces for integration of customer-specific hardware
Ability to implement customer-defined models
Integrated test automation
Open interfaces for the adaptation of customer-specific test automation
Open data interface for big data and telemetry management and evaluation

LTTS Edge

Pivoting on our rich domain knowledge and years of multi-industry experience, we, at LTTS, bring pure-play engineering to any field we enter. All of our 72 R&D and innovation centers located across countries are incubation zones for disruptive technologies, including autonomous transport. In addition to offering the best technical support in the industry, we are also recognized for our:

SIL, HIL, and VIL testing capabilities
Powerful and reliable simulation models with intuitive GUI
Reliable testing of complex scenarios in a lab environment
Verification of 5G devices under extreme automotive conditions in a lab environment

Conclusion

Like all technological innovations in their infancy, V2X has also garnered concerns surrounding its pervasiveness, security, and effectiveness. Considering the apparent risks V2X entails at its current nascent stage, the question arises: why develop it and realize these risks in the first place? The answer lies in the fact when any technology is adequately verified and validated, its effectiveness steadily improves, and the error rate rapidly declines up to near-zero.

Development of such technology that relies on technology rather than human judgment for optimum performance is undebatable, especially where people’s life and physical well-being is at stake.

Harnessing its capabilities, LTTS is also playing its due role in making V2X 100% safe and reliable for encase adoption.

REFERENCES

https://www.automotiveworld.com/articles/v2x-is-close-heres-what-still-needs-to-happen/

https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4759721/the-v2x-vehicle-to-everything-communications

https://www.autoweek.com/news/technology/a36190311/v2x-technology/

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/vehicle-to-everything-v2x/

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jat/2021/9970978/

https://www.embeddedcomputing.com/application/automotive/v2x-interoperability-why-testing-the-connectedcar-is-a-whole-new-ball-game?https://www.embeddedcomputing.com/g&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnaeNBhCUARIsABE
ee8WyKJyn2eRn2b6jPuSeB3s7jr0NW7CB9Dp7pzMPzSF9i3riDz3BqFAaAmP6EALw_wcB

https://www.sae.org/news/press-room/2018/12/sae-international-releases-updated-visual-chart-for-its-%E2%80%9Clevels-of-driving-automation%E2%80%9D-standard-for-self-driving-vehicles