5G benefits for automated vehicles: first lessons learned by 5G-MOBIX French trial site

The 5G-MOBIX project aims to evaluate the contribution of 5G on connectivity for Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) services and functionalities, under cross-border conditions. The 5G-MOBIX test sites include two cross-border corridors (Greece-Turkey and Spain-Portugal) and six local test sites in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, China and South Korea. The local sites provide additional and complementary contributions to the cross-border trials

 

A safe and efficient driving at highway entry for automated vehicles

5G-MOBIX French Trial Site has four members, VEDECOM (leader), Catapult, Akka, and Valeo, and is located in the Paris region. The French Trial Site (FR TS) has been testing a so-called “Infrastructure-Assisted Advanced Driving” CAM use-case, in which the 5G MEC infrastructure guides automated connected vehicle for safe and efficient driving at a highway entry.

 

A level 4 car with a 5G onboard unit 

Several cross-border issues have been tackled by the FR TS with the solutions of multi-PLMN connectivity, predictive quality of service (QoS), Wave connectivity, and satellite-fallback. 5G NSA networks provided by three French telecom operators, Orange, Bouygues and TDF, have been used to test the target use case and the considered solutions.

During the period of the project, the FR TS has deployed two MEC that were installed with a number of software modules, particularly V2X-application server, data fusion, risk assessment, QoS prediction, KPI manager. Six 5G onboard units (OBUs) designed by VEDECOM and VALEO have been integrated in the two level 4 automated vehicle and the two connected vehicles.

 

Test and trialling in both private and open road, including a cross border corridor

Test and trialling activities of the FR TS started in late 2021 in order to execute a huge number of use-case-specific and agnostic tests cases in closed test tracks and open road. Furthermore, the FR TS made two contributions to the ES-PT cross border corridor:

  1. test and benchmarking of multi-PLMN connectivity
  2. contribution to the ES-PT variant of advanced driving use case. The tests at the ES-PT have been conducted in March 2022.

 

Results and public demonstration on April 21, 2022

The obtained results of the test-cases finalised in France and at the ES-PT CBC show the benefits of 5G for the target CAM use-case especially the great advantages of multi-PLMN connectivity.

On the 21st of the April, the FR TS has organized its public demonstration event with public authorities, industries, SMEs, and academia. The event consisted of a workshop session, demonstrations, and an unprecedented round-table discussion.

Full review of the day with presentations and replays below:

 

5G-MOBIX project presentation

 

General introduction

By Eric Lebeau, CEO of VEDECOM.

REPLAY

 

Introduction to the European 5G-MOBIX project and the activities of the French site

REPLAY

Other European and French projects focusing on 5G and automated vehicles

Presentations of other 5G projects in which VEDECOM is involved:

REPLAY

Track Demonstrations

  • Infrastructure assisted automated lane change at highway entry (demonstration with an L4 automated vehicule prototype)
  • Maintaining continuity of service when a vehicle switches from one network to another
  • Dynamic quality control of 5G communications

Round table “Vision of 5G and CCAM by the market players”.

An unique round-table discussion with all the players in the value chain: vehicle manufacturers, telecommunication and road infrastructure operators, public transport players.
Moderated by Tony Jaux, President of VEDECOM, VP Innovation at Stellantis and Director of the connectivity program at the French Automobile Platform.

 

Round-table replay


Around the table:

REPLAY

With 5GMED project, VEDECOM will coordinate tests on automated vehicles based on IA

The 5GMED project aims to bring a sustainable 5G deployment model for future mobility in the Mediterranean Cross-Border Corridor, both on railway and highway. The project will be launched in September 2020 and will be implemented until November 2023.

The services to be tested will rely on a broad range of technologies beyond 5G, including on-board sensors and Artificial Intelligence (AI), providing advanced connectivity services in a scalable and replicable manner across transport paths.

Intelligent hybridation of communication channels and data merging

In order to accelerate the rollout of 5G for self-driving vehicles, there is a need to deliver roaming ability and continuity of service, especially in cross-border areas. To do this, VEDECOM will co-ordinate test activities in the Paris region, incorporating the “remote automated driving” test case; VEDECOM will then conduct a large-scale validation of these tests along the France-Spain corridor. These tests concern both road infrastructure and vehicle systems architecture.

Specifically, VEDECOM will develop strategies based on artificial intelligence to deliver hybrid 5G, ITS G5 and LTE-V2X communication channels. Its teams will develop software building blocks that can merge data from various sensors installed in the vehicle or at the roadside, transform the various communications channels into hybrid intelligent systems and enable low-latency communications, incorporating roadside units (RSUs) and MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) functions.

The budget assigned to VEDECOM for this project is €756,600.

21 Europeen partners

5GMed brings together the key partners to deliver advanced CCAM and FRMCS services in the Figueres – Perpignan section of the Mediterranean corridor. The consortium, coordinated by Cellnex Telecom, includes 21 partners from 7 countries. The project is also supported by the public administrations of both countries including the Occitania Region and the Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya, who promoted the 5G corridor from the start.

5GMed was signed by the partners on June 16, 2020. It has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement No.951947.

Read the press release

VEDECOM presents VEDETECT, a tool for analysing mobility flows in real time, helping to make the era of flexible transport a reality.

VEDECOM presents VEDETECT, a tool for analysing mobility flows in real time, helping to make the era of flexible transport a reality.

Gridlocked junctions, packed train stations, overcrowded buses… What if the secret to freeing up our cities lay in the real-time management of mobility flows and transport supply? This is what VEDETECT is banking on with the new solution from the VEDECOM Institute, which was a finalist of the Grand Prix de l’Innovation at the Salon des Maires et des Collectivités Locales. Tested with support from the Département des Yvelines, a network of smart sensors enables local communities to monitor traffic in real time, both to regulate it better and to help them to develop their transport policies.

Read the  Press Release

Voir toutes les actualités
Articles récents :

PROJECT HISTORY – Paving the way for hybrid, secure and cooperative communications

PROJECT HISTORY – Paving the way for hybrid, secure and cooperative communications

VEDECOM’s “New hybrid, secure and cooperative communications” team, led by Dr.-HdR. Oyunchimeg Shagdar and supported by a network of partners, undertakes research around secure communication channels between vehicles and their environment (V2X): a major issue for vehicles of the future. Interview with Ahmed Soua, a V2X-5G researcher, who agreed to tell us more about the team’s challenges and victories.

What does the project involve?

Our team is conducting research into the field of wireless vehicular communications (V2X): vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-network (V2N), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communications. We are working on their specifications and the design of both reliable and secure solutions. Our team consists of approximately twenty people who were trained in the fields of telecommunications, networks, computing, signal processing and embedded systems. Our research focuses on everything from the design of V2X communication solutions to their standardization, including the augmented perception brought by IoT and also cybersecurity with atypical pattern detection. To simulate the reliability and performance of hybrid communications, we have designed a demo platform that is being marketed by VEDECOM Tech.

What is at stake with this project?

Our goal is to identify and design optimal V2X communication solutions, while ensuring that they are agile and, above all, secure with respect to the flow of information which they carry, and which contributes to road safety. We must bring all stakeholders together around this one goal in order to define data exchange protocols.

The specific aspect of our activities is really to work collaboratively with an entire ecosystem of industrialists and academics: Renault, PSA, VALEO, ATOS, Marben, Transdev, YoGoKo, Neavia, Vinci Autoroutes, FARECO, ECE Paris, UVSQ, INRIA, System-X and also the UTAC CERAM.

What are the project’s main difficulties and challenges?

We have 5 main challenges. Of course, there is not only the matter of technology selection, but also the question of scalability, namely finding ways to prevent network congestion with increasing system load. There are interoperability and cybersecurity issues as well. Finally, there are data exchange issues relevant to cooperative insights: the aim here is to find a way to merge sensor data from different vehicles or roadside equipment with the data received and sent through wireless networks.

In the coming years, we will also face two further challenges. We will need to adapt 5G and integrate it into our research on hybrid communications.

What successes and high points have you encountered thus far?

We recently presented several demonstrations, which were all very successful. During the mobilité@VEDECOM day on 11 April 2019, we demonstrated the cooperation of two communication technologies via our simulation platform. The inauguration of the Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab test on 15 May 2019 was also a very significant moment. It affirmed the importance and relevance of our work in terms of interoperability and facilities. For the first time and alongside our partners Renault and Transdev, we were able to present a comprehensive autonomous transport system that was fully functional thanks to the infrastructure. Finally, the HDR (accreditation to supervise research) of Oyunchimeg Shagdar, on 6 September 2018, which took place at the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, was a highlight for our entire team: it represented a true recognition of our work and our research findings.

What does this project bring to the world of mobility?

We strive to promote our scientific output: not just demonstrations, but also prototypes, patents, publications, and participation in international conferences and workshops. We recently gave a demonstration of our platform simulation units at the inauguration of the TEQMO site,the UTAC-CERAM vehicle testing and certification centre.

Besides our members who have access to these findings, our commercial subsidiary VEDECOM Tech will be able to market this platform to any companies that might be interested. Designed by VEDECOM in partnership with Marben, it consists of some 40 units that simulate the behaviour of a connected vehicle in different use scenarios: it is used to test prototype vehicles on tracks, especially at UTAC-CERAM. It also contributes to the Institute’s progress on European projects, such as the 5G-MOBIX project, which unites over 50 partners to demonstrate 5G’s contribution to vehicular communications.

 

Voir toutes les actualités
Articles récents :

The inauguration of Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab at Spring: a full-scale test of autonomous mobility services connected to infrastructure

The inauguration of Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab at Spring: a full-scale test of autonomous mobility services connected to infrastructure

15 mai 2019

The Spring event, held on 15 May 2019, was VEDECOM’s chance to come together with its partners to present the Paris-Saclay Lab experiment that is the result of the EVAPS project. The project aims to develop new autonomous mobility services on dedicated, public, and campus routes as a supplement to existing transport solutions at the Plateau de Saclay. It incorporates the latest technologies in on-board smart systems in vehicles, supervision systems, connected infrastructure, and secure telecommunications networks. It was co-led by the Renault Group, the Transdev Group, the VEDECOM Institute, the SystemX Institute for technological research, and Université Paris-Saclay, with support from ENSTA. It also receives support from the French government’s Investments for the Future allocated to ADEME, as well as the Paris-Saclay urban planning and development authority, the Paris-Saclay urban authority, the department of Essonne, and Ile-de-France Mobilités.

 

Testing a comprehensive autonomous transport system

The Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab project was among the selections made by the government on 24 April 2019 following the “Autonomous Road Vehicle Testing” (EVRA) call for projects launched in June 2018 as part of the Investments for the Future programme (PIA). Its purpose is to test a comprehensive autonomous transport system made up of self-driving vehicles (three Renault ZoéCab prototypes and one Transdev-Lohr i-Cristal shuttle), a fleet supervision system, connected infrastructure, and customer applications. The aim is to define the roll-out conditions for an autonomous mobility service at a larger scale. Launched in 2017, the Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab project was inaugurated on 15 May 2019 at the Spring innovation conference at Centrale Supélec by Mr Grégoire de Lasteyrie, Regional Special Advisor for New Mobilities and Mayor of Palaiseau; Mr François Durovray, Chairman of the Essonne Department Council; and Mr Michel Bournat, Mayor of Gif-sur-Yvette and Chairman of the Paris-Saclay urban authority. Mr Philippe Watteau, CEO of VEDECOM; Mr Thierry Mallet, CEO of the Transdev Group; Mr Arnaud Molinié, SVP of Mobility Service at the Renault Group; Mr Paul Labrogère, General Manager of SystemX; Ms Sylvie Retailleau, President of Université Paris-Saclay; and Ms Elizabeth Crépon, Director of ENSTA, were in attendance. It will continue until the first quarter of 2020.

 

Autonomous mobility services to supplement existing transport offerings

The experiment will be launched gradually, first opening 21 May 2019 to a sample group of users. They will be offered two autonomous mobility services as a supplement to existing transport offerings at Plateau de Saclay:

  • a night-time mass transit service on a separate road (a special TCSP bus road) with a Transdev-Lohr i-Cristal self-driving shuttle that will make stops in Plateau de Saclay neighbourhoods and the Massy train station after regular service hours have ended. From 12:30am to 3:00am, the shuttle will make four stops along a nearly three-kilometre route.
  • There will also be an on-demand car service during the day to supplement regular transport services, provided by self-driving Renault ZoéCab prototypes on the Paris-Saclay campus.

The project is exceptional in that it covers the Paris-Saclay zone, which is fertile ground for innovation, and that it involves collaboration between actors from complementary fields who all share a common drive: the desire to develop shared autonomous mobility solutions. It aligns with authorities’ efforts to develop new mobility systems at Plateau de Saclay by integrating them into public transit offerings. The aim is to demonstrate the utility of autonomous mobility solutions in an existing transport network, as defined by various performance measures, complementarity with existing offerings, and economic measures. Indeed, mobility is a major challenge in this area when it comes to attracting international interest, which is Paris-Saclay’s goal. In addition, the population is growing quickly, which ought to increase demand.

 

Large-scale experiment

For this large-scale experiment, nine kilometres of fibre optic cable were laid down in the experimental zone, as well as four kilometres of electric cable and six kilometres of Ethernet cable. Nearly 200 public street lamps were used, plus 70 temporary poles. Along eight kilometres of road, 25 sites (multi-mode transfer points, traffic light intersections, roundabouts, bus stops, etc.) were outfitted with communication and collection infrastructure. Eighty-five sensors were installed (10 M8 LiDARs, 20 vehicle-detector heat cameras, 20 pedestrian-detector heat cameras, 35 video cameras) as well as 25 roadside units paired with 25 roadside cases holding processing units and network equipment. This RSU + case set designed by VEDECOM, called the VEDECOM Box, processes and communicates upwards and downwards information from the vehicle.

The Renault ZOECab and the Transdev-Lohr i-Cristal shuttle are 100% electric and equipped with autonomous technology. Outfitted with LiDAR sensors, cameras, an inertial centre and self-driving software, they account for all the usual driving constraints: they identify the presence of other vehicles and pedestrians; manage intersections, roundabouts and speed bumps; recognise traffic lights, etc. They are level four (SAE standard: fully autonomous in specific zones). Inside, the vehicles have cameras and information screens to assist passengers during the ride.

This programme represents a total investment of 16.2 million euros, including 5.5 million euros contributed by ADEME as part of the Investments for the Future programme.

 

A major cross-cutting project for VEDECOM

Communicating and smart infrastructure has been designed, installed and developed by VEDECOM, which has also led the entire human factors analysis of the project (relationship between pedestrians and travellers and self-driving cars).

Three teams from the Institute have been called upon for this project, which has already taken 2,500 hours of work over the course of two years:

  • The “New Physical Urban Spaces for Eco-mobility” team, led by Nadège Faul,
  • The “New Usages Laboratory” team, led by Stéphanie Coeugnet,
  • The “New Secure Communications and Cooperative Safety” team, led by Oyunchmimeg Shagdar.

The project makes it possible to assess two main domains: the technological domain, with the set-up of an autonomous and connected transport system; and the acceptability domain, with the sample group to analyse ‘end customers’ level of buy-in to services. The VEDECOM Institute has provided expertise in both domains by offering solutions for true added-value services:

  • research, development, and deployment of smart, connected infrastructure that complements self-driving vehicles; connectivity modules (and more specifically connectivity between roadside equipment and on-board communication modules);
  • development of standardised interfaces with an eye to interoperable supervision;
  • research and development of communication between vehicles and vulnerable road users to ensure detection and safety; collection and analysis of users’ needs and expectations as well as their feedback on the acceptability of proposed services to get an idea of how popular and profitable they will be in the future;
  • research, specifications, and prototyping of the user-friendliness of user interfaces inside and outside the test vehicles (ZOECab and i-Cristal shuttle).

Read the Press Release of the 5 partners of the Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab project

Voir toutes les actualités
Articles récents :

RATP Group becomes a VEDECOM member to speed up innovation in autonomous mobility and connected roads

RATP Group becomes a VEDECOM member to speed up innovation in autonomous mobility and connected roads

Marie-Claude Dupuis, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Development at RATP Group, and Philippe Watteau, General Manager of the VEDECOM Institute for Energy Transition, announce the signing of a partnership agreement to accelerate RATP’s research and innovation in the field of future mobility.

This partnership is a result of the agreement signed last December certifying RATP’s membership in VEDECOM. Both partners will work together on research projects, primarily in the fields of autonomous vehicles, connected and cooperative roads and new mobility services.

Read the press release

Voir toutes les actualités
Articles récents :