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Our guide to navigating 5G and V2X airwaves

In our explanatory videos, we show how different types of connections can work together in the V2X ecosystem to make traffic safe and efficient.

Published June 17, 2021

A diverse infrastructure operates along the roads combining 5G mobile networks with vehicle-to-everything (V2X) roadside units and other radio technologies to offer traffic participants safety and efficiency solutions.

We made a short video about these network technologies used in Intelligent Transport Systems. This includes long-range 5G for general infotainment services and short-range V2X messaging for almost real time information sharing. The latter is crucial for life-saving services. 

Everyone is talking about 5G and V2X

Cars use the same 4G or 5G mobile network for long-range connections as mobile phones. We need to keep in mind that these devices are usually considered a distraction. For this reason, some may not think it’s a good idea to build road safety on that.

 

4G and 5G are ideal for distributing general weather news and traffic information. However, it is short-range V2X messages that are essential for safety. These low-latency V2X messages are transmitted in the 5.9 GHz band directly between V2X roadside and on-board units.

The two do not have to be treated completely separately. An interesting connection between the V2X and the 5G infrastructure is that V2X roadside devices may give a helping hand for 5G mobile network operators, providing a space for 5G radio equipment.

The more information sensors and networks provide, the better decisions we can make

This is a huge topic. Fortunately, if you want to find out more you can take a look at our CTO, Laszlo Virag, explaining it all in a recent webinar hosted by ITS America. Laszlo talks us through the present and future of 3GPP mobile network standards, and how mobile phones could fail to work as a pedestrian safety tool. Lastly, he also talks about how data fusion, the combination of 5G, V2X and different sensors can be crucial in road safety.

Commsignia’s devices use pieces of information coming from navigation services like Waze, TomTom, Here, Google Maps, and other pieces from short-range messages delivering information from roadside sensors, cameras and V2X-equipped vehicles. All we need to do is to combine this data in a smart way to provide accurate and timely warnings to traffic participants.