{"id":31383,"date":"2022-10-25T07:30:13","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T14:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.md7.com\/?post_type=perspectives&p=31383"},"modified":"2022-11-08T14:42:20","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T22:42:20","slug":"autonomous-vehicles-the-killer-app-to-drive-5g","status":"publish","type":"perspectives","link":"https:\/\/www.md7.com\/it\/perspectives\/autonomous-vehicles-the-killer-app-to-drive-5g\/","title":{"rendered":"Autonomous vehicles \u2014 The killer app to drive 5G?"},"content":{"rendered":"
So far, mobile network operators like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in 5G airwave spectrum and equipment. The number of worldwide 5G connections soared past 540 million last year, according to industry research group\u00a0Omdia<\/a>. Yet we\u2019re lacking a compelling reason to make the jump to 5G.<\/p>\n When 4G was rolled out some of the \u201ckiller apps\u201d that got people excited at the time were startups like Uber and Lyft, which used the 4G standard to implement geolocation-based ride-hailing services that had never existed before. The jump from 3G to 4G made Apple\u2019s FaceTime possible and brought 4k video to our phones. When we look at 5G, one of the biggest questions is: What will be the \u201ckiller app\u201d that drives the adoption and implementation of 5G on a massive, worldwide scale?<\/p>\n Slowly but surely, many technology experts are becoming convinced that the \u201ckiller app\u201d \u2014 or \u201cuse case,\u201d to choose a more apt term \u2014 will be autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the Internet of Things (IoT).<\/p>\n There are several different levels of vehicle autonomy, defined by the\u00a0Society of Automotive Engineers<\/a>\u00a0(SAE), ranging from Level 0 \u2014 where nothing in a car is autonomous (essentially describing most vehicles today) \u2014 to Level 5 \u2014 where a car is fully autonomous and doesn\u2019t need a person in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n Between Levels 0 and 5, there are different levels of semi-autonomy. But one thing Levels 1 through 5 have in common is that the vehicle uses technology to \u201csee\u201d what\u2019s ahead of and around it and communicate with other vehicles and objects that may or may or may not be in its path. 5G is particularly suited to this latter enterprise, known as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, due to its high bandwidth, speed and ultra-low latency.<\/p>\n Currently, standards for V2V and V2X are being established based on cellular technology, and these standards are almost sure to require 5G. The more AVs there are on the road, the more all AVs (and non-AVs) will need to communicate. Standards are also being established for intelligent transportation systems (ITS), which will allow objects like traffic lights, road signs and highway signals to talk to each other, as well as to passing vehicles.<\/p>\n The real argument for autonomous versus manual driving comes from safety. In the U.S., more than 46,000 people are killed every year in auto accidents, and the vast majority of these deaths are caused by human error. The idea is that safety will improve via a near-total adoption of AVs and the implementation of cellular-based V2V and V2X standards, as well as advanced ITS.<\/p>\nThe Killer app for 5G<\/h3>\n
Different levels of autonomy<\/h3>\n
V2V, V2X, ITS and Vision Zero<\/h3>\n
Edge cases<\/h3>\n