Industry Focus: Automotive
Supporting an evolving automotive market with the latest communication technologies
By Michael Thiel, product manager, antennas at HUBER+SUHNER T
he commercial vehicle market – and the technologies used within it – has become increasingly diversified in recent years. On the road, buses,
trucks or emergency service vehicles all require upgraded wireless connectivity for a multitude of reasons, whether it’s for precise positioning, real-time communications or for systems that are capable of reducing accidents when on the move. At the same time, new technologies are driving a transformation in agricultural and forestry, coinciding with the rise of autonomous machinery. As we look to the future, new micro mobility options such as e-bikes will come to the fore, and therefore reliable connectivity is key if intelligent, seamless and environmentally friendly applications in all areas are to be achieved. By listening to their customers and monitoring the needs of the automotive industry, vendors are now bringing exciting products to market which will make this a reality. This includes innovative antennas designed to support the numerous applications and new concepts emerging within the market.
Embracing innovation When we think of vehicles connecting and communicating with the outside environment, in the past this has mainly concerned broadcasting services, alongside the support of cellular functionality inside the car or basic navigation services. Now, advancements through Vehicle-to- Everything (V2X) technology enable the delivery of real-time traffic information through on-board communication, with automakers meanwhile integrating these concepts in their vehicles. Along with V2X, drivers and passengers can be notified
14 November 2023
of traffic activity close to them, road warnings, adverse road conditions and other elemental factors instantly. This gives them adequate time to take appropriate action and avoid potential incidents. By incorporating different Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) services, including e.g. GALILEO, manufacturers can now provide maximum positioning accuracy to enhance road safety across the board. However, the vast majority of these services do operate on different frequency bands, and any solution designed to utilise GNSS must cover both the upper and lower L-Bands if they are to successfully support the receivers in the vehicle.
As a result, we are now seeing antennas on the market that have integrated dual band GNSS to support this concept. Not too long ago, having precise location data at a range of over ten meters would seem
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impressive. Now these solutions are able to provide enhanced positioning down to the centimetre range, depending on the receiver architecture implanted by the manufacturer.
Generally speaking, the latest solutions cover the L1, L2 and L5 bands to provide the required multi frequency reception to customers, alongside the E5a and E5b bands needed to support GALILEO services. Of course, there are other navigational services found across the globe such as BeiDou, which is now fully operational in China and the Indian system IRNSS, though this provides regional information only. These are also able to be represented through the new generation of antennas, such as the SENCITY Road MULTI from HUBER+SUHNER, which offers an adaptable solution to support dual band GNSS connectivity for commercial vehicles found
across the globe. Alongside this comes an improved filtering to avoid interference with other e.g. cellular services in 5G.
Enhanced performance
Now reliable positioning has been established, many applications benefit from this, including the blue light services responsible for maintaining public safety. Knowing the exact position of where an emergency call took place enables the quick re-direction of nearby emergency forces, resulting in these arriving faster to the incident. Furthermore, any valuable information regarding location, building or video communications can be handled through upgraded systems that are crucial for such critical communication scenarios.
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), a global standard for digital radio communications operating in the 380-430
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