Qualcomm, together with Audi of America and the Virginia Department of Transportation announced plans for initial deployments of cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) communication on northern Virginia roadways.
In a press release, Qualcomm said that this technology will be provided by using the same portion of the 5.9 GHz band that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed to allocate for C-V2X.
The initial deployment is expected to take place on select roadways in Virginia beginning in the third quarter of 2020.
Qualcomm highlighted that C-V2X technology will be used to deliver work zone warnings on highways, as well as signal timing information on approaches to signalized intersections on arterial roadways. In both cases, C-V2X communications can help deliver critical safety messages between vehicles and infrastructure with minimal latency, while less time-sensitive alerts are designed to be provided via C-V2X using the cellular network, according to Qualcomm.
The chipmaker also said that this initial deployment is designed to support connected car systems which facilitate safety around school buses, warn motorists about dangerous road conditions, alleviate congestion at traffic chokepoints and curbsides, help improve the performance of automated vehicles that are nearing commercialization and even potentially let cars communicate with mobile devices to send warnings.
The northern Virginia initial deployment involves two primary use cases:
-Work zone warnings, which the organizations feel is an important use case on highways, featuring a Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X chipset solution via an in-vehicle display in Audi Q8 SUVs designed to deliver a graduated warning, with the last link being a low-latency, reliable warning to drivers of the workers’ physical presence.
-On arterial roadways, the signal phase and timing (SpaT) from a traffic signal, will be transmitted with a Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X chipset solution to Audi Q8 SUVs. These vehicles have the Audi Traffic Light Information (TLI) service that can provide drivers a countdown to the green light. C-V2X from the traffic signal can also provide direct information to the Audi Q8, which will be used by the TLI system to fine-tune the countdown information of the signal phase and timing.
“We recognize the immediate value of the spectrum that the FCC proposed to allocate to C-V2X, and we endeavor to show our V2X equipped cars on real roads engaging in how transportation safety and mobility could be jump-started,” said Anupam Malhotra, director of connected vehicle services for Audi of America. “We are excited about our participation in this pilot deployment as it highlights the broad societal advantages that technology is now poised to deliver through the full 5.9 GHz V2X spectrum near term with far, far more to come as connected and automated vehicle fleets emerge over the next decade.”
“With the advances in cellular communications now enabling us to also offer direct connectivity for safety services, traffic efficiency and emerging automated use cases, we are pleased to work closely with VDOT, Audi of America and Virginia Tech to showcase the commercial maturity and technological sophistication of C-V2X and to start the proliferation of the technology on US roadways,” said Jim Misener, senior director of product management at Qualcomm Technologies.
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has been contracted to develop the software and systems necessary to support the primary use cases defined for the initial deployment.
