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.