Verizon and Nissan used sensors and edge technology to create ‘a multi-viewpoint picture of potential safety hazards,’ which was relayed to the driver
Verizon has announced the completion of its cellular vehicle-to-everything communication (C-V2X) research with Nissan North America’s Research and Advanced Engineering team. The companies demonstrated how sensor data from vehicles and surrounding infrastructure can be processed at the edge of Verizon’s wireless network and communicated back to the driver in near real time.
The research was aimed at creating “a multi-viewpoint picture of safety hazards” that might be lurking beyond the vehicle and the driver’s line-of-sight. This was accomplished by testing a variety of vehicle-based and infrastructure-based sensor configurations. Then, sensor data gathered from Nissan vehicles and surrounding infrastructure was processed at the edge of Verizon’s network using the carrier’s 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength, a capability first launched in Boston and the Bay Area in August 2020. Once processed, insights are communicated back via the cellular network to vehicles in near-real-time, prompting Nissan’s Intelligent Shared World platform to initiate driver notifications.
During the trials, drivers were notified of several different safety scenarios, such as pedestrians entering roadways from behind other cars, or of oncoming vehicles obscured behind larger vehicles.
As a result of the successful demonstration, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) will initiate validation of the technology for its Automated Driving Systems Grant Program. Following tests in controlled public environments in Contra Costa County, potential live deployment upon validation is expected.
According to CCTA’s Executive Director Timothy Haile, C-V2X at the edge “addresses real transportation needs [and delivers] mobility choices to transportation-challenged and underserved communities.”
TJ Fox, senior vice president of Industrial IoT and Automotive, Verizon Business, expressed a similar sentiment, commenting, “Communication between vehicles and the environment around them, or C-V2X, will be one of the most important transportation innovations of the connected and autonomous future of driving.”
He added: “This proof of concept shows that edge computing with Verizon’s cellular network can help take the resource-intensive compute burden off vehicles and public infrastructure — housing their software platforms and crunching their sensor data for them — and can communicate data outward to prompt potentially lifesaving safety alerts or autonomous driving features in the car, all essentially in real time.”
“Making breakthroughs in products and technologies is a core piece of Nissan’s business and our Nissan NEXT transformation plan,” said Maarten Sierhuis, Ph.D., global innovation director, Nissan Advanced Research and Development. “The successful development and pilot of this research technology reinforces our commitment to helping keep drivers and passengers safe and the future of mobility.”
Verizon is also interested in bringing edge technology to the healthcare industry, where the carrier is using this tool, as well as 5G, to power the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). In an interview with RCR Wireless News, Verizon’s Vice President of Business Development, Public Sector, Maggie Hallbach said that these advanced technologies are helping make the promise of a more connected, and therefore, more effective healthcare system a reality.
