FEATURE Automotive Supply Chain
Going for gold in connecting vehicles
Manfred Lindacher, VP Global Sales Automotive International at Quectel, explores the technologies that can provide best connectivity in cars
T
he number of connected vehicles on UK roads is quickly growing thanks to a larger Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. The size of the global connected-car fl eet is projected to increase over three times in the coming years. In 2021, there were around 237 million connected cars on the roads, expected to surpass 400 million globally by 2025, with 96% of vehicles shipped in 2030 having built-in connectivity. Such vehicles will each produce roughly 25 gigabytes of data per hour, according to ITS Digest. Deloitte suggests that the projection could be conservative, because data is becoming less expensive all the time and the number of sensors in vehicles continues to grow. However, not all these vehicles will be connected at the same level: some will have gold standard connectivity, with reliable connections that will provide the user with lightning-speed traffi c updates, whereas others will have intermittent connections – and, with that, frustrated users. It’s not a great situation to starting with subpar connectivity, and then upgrade later on to keep up with the competition (although upgrades should always be considered part of the technology’s lifespan).
Gold standard
As the automotive industry continues to mature, it’s important to keep looking ahead. In contrast to many other items,
38 June 2022 | Automation
vehicles have long active lifespan, leading carmakers to look well ahead when product planning. Off ering a “Gold” standard connectivity can be an easy, profi table upsell. Some of the technologies that will be relied on for delivering this standard connectivity include: • LTE: The next generation of automotive connectivity will focus on LTE, cellular vehicle-to-x (C-V2X), LTE Advanced (LTE A) and 5G, in both 3GPP Release 15 and Release 16. Automakers and suppliers should examine 4G and 5G network access devices (NADs) for connected vehicles and latest V2X product innovations to plan their future IoT products. • 5G Release 16: This release represents the next signifi cant new functionality that comes to market. There is already huge interest. Top NAD providers will have engineering samples of their 5G IoT modules available by the fourth quarter, with further product information available, once Qualcomm and MediaTek are ready to share details of their newest chipsets.
• Automotive Internet of Things (IoT) modules: Commercial samples for the established automotive IoT modules AG35, AG15, AG52xR, AG509M and AG55xQ for connected vehicles, supporting LTE, C-V2X and LTE-A connectivity, will be available this year. Also, on the horizon are 5G Release 15 automotive modules, including AG57xQ,
AG568N and AG569N. Engineering samples of these will be available for customers’ software designs, expected any time soon, with commercial samples following in October. • NAD modules: Buyers should look for NAD modules with full support packages, which will include technical content with hardware and software development guides, design and development tools, test tools as well as relevant peripherals. The support packages should include all that NAD manufacturers might need to develop connected automotive devices, for simpler and faster product development. All these technologies are essential to support the growing demand. While there is plenty of discussion about 5G’s role, the reality is that the current state of that technology still needs to be improved to meet the demands of the market. Until then, LTE, LTE-Advanced and C-V2X connectivity will be the standard.
Automakers and suppliers will also want to have a connectivity upgrade path designed with compatibility and flexibility to work with different IoT modules, to provide the end user with the gold standard in connectivity.
CONTACT:
Quectel
www.quectel.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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