Huawei: ‘China is in the lead with C-V2X technology’
To accelerate the development of commercially available 5G-enabled cars, Huawei has formed an alliance with 18 Chinese automakers and ride-hailing service providers. According to Huawei, the alliance “will jointly explore and develop valuable 5G car applications.” The company also claimed that the next two years will prove critical for the 5G-connected vehicle market.
Huawei is a founding member of the 5G Automotive Association, the international body formed in 2016 to promote connected cars, and has been extensively involved in the development and testing of C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything). C-V2X combines communications via cellular networks for cloud-based services like navigation and infotainment with direct link communications with other vehicles, smart infrastructure and pedestrians.
Huawei, citing the more than 20 C-V2X projects already initiated in China, has claimed that China is currently the global leader when it comes to the automobile technology. At the moment, the company has C-V2X systems that connect road elements like traffic signs and cameras and signage when used on 5G-linked smart roads that support self-driving cars.
Last December, the Baojun RC-6 from SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, a car built with Huawei’s HiCar 5G automotive module, was made commercially available. The module, called the MH5000, was designed by in-house semiconductor company HiSilicon and was based on the company’s previously developed Balong 5000 5G multimode terminal chip. The MH5000 has reportedly undergone successful urban road testing in a number of Chinese cities.
The push to establish a further lead in C-V2X technology will aid Huawei as it continues to gain market share and traction amid the ongoing trade war with the United States government, which resulted in the Trump Administration to add the company to the US trade blacklist and encouraging other countries to do the same.
The automotive companies that have signed on to take part in the newly formed alliance include state-owned carmakers FAW Group, SAIC Motor, Dongfeng Motor, Chang’an Automobile, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile, Nanjing Automobile and Chery Automobile, BYD, Great Wall Motors, Guangzhou Automobile Group and electric bus manufacturer Zhengzhou Yutong Group.
