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How 5G technology may drive us in the future
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SELF-DRIVING cars are expected to push to the forefront of automotive innovation as the 5G era dawns in China.
While sensor-based driver-assistance technologies are developing artificial intelligence that makes cars think and act like human beings, 5G will go beyond sensors and allow cars to “talk” to one another.
Higher-speed data transfer in the 5G era, with shortened responsive time and lower latency, is considered a cornerstone for building a highly connected automobile society, where traffic runs ideally in a self-coordinated pattern.
The first “sandbox” for such a transportation system in China was unveiled last month in the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle (Shanghai) Pilot Zone. In a demonstration base there, the first group of 25 self-driving cars set out to explore a virtual city where two mainstream V2X “languages” are officially recognized simultaneously. One is DSRC, favored by the US for its fast response, and the other is LTE-V, applied by China for its longer effective range.
The 5G communications could come as a game changer in the landscape of car languages, which are currently complementary. The power shift is expected to come with the higher speed of data transfer. DSRC will simply see its time gap with LTE-V narrow to a point where it doesn’t matter anymore, said Rong Wenwei, general manager of Shanghai International Automobile City.
That will certainly increase China’s advantage in the global competition towards autonomous driving.
John Larsen, mobility director of Ford Asia Pacific, said at the recent Mobile World Congress in Shanghai that V2X will start with basic remote functions like unlocking one’s car and checking its location. It will then move to more complicated applications, like real-time traffic updates.
In China’s rapid-pace Internet-Plus economy, patience for slow evolution is thin. Under the concept of making a car an extension of daily digital life and amid expectations that cars will become new data traffic gateways, the central display screen inside a vehicle will be turned into a treasure trove of multiple apps for multiple missions. From remotely controlling appliances back home and unlocking barriers at a reserved parking spots to checking the latest stock market quotes, the Mobile World Congress has shown us what is coming.
Is this a case of services run amok and dangerous distractions for motorists? That debate is still on. Carmakers like to portray themselves as concerned players, arguing that they don’t want drivers to shift their eyes and attention too far from the road.
The recent fatal crash in the US of a highly automated Tesla, where the car failed to handle a complicated road situation by itself while the driver was reportedly buried in a DVD movie, is a reminder that the new technologies need to nurture public trust at a very early stage of autonomous driving.
But fast-forwarded into the 5G era, people may not be able to assimilate this new relationship with cars slowly, and the risk of getting carried away grows. With higher speed data transmission, the car’s display screen becomes a very tempting playground, promising faster responses to all kinds of user needs, including streaming videos.
One Chinese Internet start-up is already vowing to make exclusive video content a selling point for its autonomous cars. That’s enough to give one cold feet in foot-free motoring.
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