Telstra and Lexus to Conduct Trials of 4G Car Safety Communication Technology

The largest telecommunication company in Australia is collaborating with Lexus Australia and the government of the province of Victoria to conduct trials of new car safety communication technologies .

The government in Victoria has awarded a grant of AUD 3.5 million to support this trial which will be conducted as part of a project called “Advanced Connected Vehicles Victoria”. The trials will support the development of vehicles with connected and automated technology and safety features.

As part of the trial, two Lexus vehicles which are equipped with Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technology will be deployed and they will use a specialized link on Telstra’s mobile network that will make it possible for vehicles to communicate with each other beyond the distance that short-range radio offers.

Telstra chief technology officer Hakan Eriksson said in a blog post that C-V2X technology will make it possible for cars to talk to each other and also connect with their surrounding through the use of 4G mobile networks, and direct short-range wireless links. One example is the case of a vehicle that performs an emergency brake. The car  performing the braking function will automatically send a message to the V2X-equipped car that is following it, thus potentially helping to avoid a collision a lot before a forward collision radar or driver even notices the possibility for a collision. In such a scenario, even a few seconds can make a difference.

The car safety systems for which trials will be conducted using C-V2X technology will include emergency braking alerts, in-vehicle speed limit compliance warnings, right-turn assist for road users who are at risk, and warning alerts in the event that surrounding vehicles are likely to violate a red light.

Earlier trials of car safety communication technologies in Australia had only used Wi-Fi 802.11p for short range communications whereas the new trial will use short range 5.9 GHz radios which are based on advanced 4G cellular V2X technology, and will pave the way for future use of 5G solutions.