An automotive and telecommunications consortium, known as the Connected Vehicle-to-Everything of Tomorrow (ConVeX) consortium, have successfully trialled a connected vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) system. The consortium is formed of organisations including Audi, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies, Swarco Traffic Systems and the University of Kaiserslautern.

The trial, which is the first of its kind, showed promising results for the future of connected and autonomous vehicles. Using Third Generation Partnership Project’s C-V2X technology, the trial aimed to test short-range direct and cellular wide-range communications and to demonstrate their potential compatibility for vehicular communications.

The project equipped cars with communications capability using 5.9GHz ITS frequencies and placed them in realistic traffic situations. They then tested the strength and usability of the direct communications by driving the cars at various speeds and in different relationships with the infrastructure around it. The results were incredibly positive and reliable, even in situations with heavy traffic or with blind corners.

5G communications capabilities were also tested, using an Ericsson network, for vehicle-to-infrastructure use cases. For example, an alert about icy road conditions was disseminated throughout the network and accurately received. This could easily be replicated for other traffic conditions, and the project found that there were relatively low latency times in the communication.

Finally, ConVeX demonstrated the first cross-border C-V2X communication demonstration, in tests across the French, German and Luxembourgish borders.

This trial has proven that C-V2X technologies are incredibly viable for the future. However, as they continue to develop, it is crucial to keep in mind the security status of these devices, vehicles and infrastructure. Reliable communication is important, but without a guarantee of identity, authenticity and message provenance, the whole network becomes insecure and unsafe.

Looking forward, C-V2X communications have the potential to change the entire future of transport, as we head into a new era of connected and autonomous vehicles.