Vehicles communicating with their environment are becoming prominent in the automotive industry. Smart mobility is a new segment where V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication has become the core of the paradigm. V2X communication consists of multiple applications- V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle), V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure), and V2G (Vehicle to Grid).
According to the business wire market research, there were 0.7 million cars with V2X capability in 2020 and this number is projected to grow to 35 million by 2025.
V2V and V2I have similar sets of protocols to transfer data between the vehicle and infrastructure that can be any stable or immobile structure like a Home, Traffic system, and Building. V2G communication helps electric vehicles in sending and receiving energy consumption and availability data seamlessly. With the help of V2G, vehicles can become a source of backup power in times of need for the power grid. It is explained further in this blog.
However, to establish communication, the vehicle must have the capability to transmit signals through various industry-standard protocols. They vary as per the government guidelines, transmission frequencies, mode of communication, and the geography of end application. The explanation to different vehicle communications and protocols is mentioned below:
V2I comes under the V2V umbrella as it represents communication with stationary objects (home, traffic system, building, and so on), and uses the same set of communication protocols for data processing. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) connectivity are based on the IEEE 802.11p communication standards that work on data and physical layer and help establish communication between vehicles.
One of the industry-standard communication protocols is Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) based on IEEE 802.11p. It is a Wi-Fi ‘like’ communication protocol that works on the 5.9GHz frequency band. It covers a distance ranging between 300 to 1000 meters when the vehicle is running on the highway, covering a high range of distance for communication that the other sensors in the vehicle like LiDAR, RADAR, and cameras cannot cover.
DSRC or 802.11p is widely accepted in the US. Apart from this, another protocol for V2V communication is C-V2X (Cellular- V2X) that communicates over the PC5 interface on the 5.9GHz band. It also provides the capability to communicate with the network (V2N) as it is cellular-based and provides some large distance hazard alerts. IEEE 802.11p doesn’t use the cellular network, therefore, for covering the large distance, it has to communicate with the stations on the roadside. In Europe, ITS 5G or Cellular-V2X is a widely adopted protocol for V2V and it has been recommended by the European Commission for Transport. ITS 5G enhances the V2V communication with 5G connectivity for future-ready solutions.
V2V communication enables an alert-based system for vehicles in situations of nearby hazards. Vehicles can communicate with each other over DSRC or C-V2X and can send alert messages. Till now, the vehicles were using this for alert systems but now the OEMs are working toward integrating this technology with the braking and steering systems. V2V works in a mesh network where each vehicle and traffic signal act as a node and can send data over the network.
V2V communication requires high-end processing and computing power for the real-time processing of data. Many chip providers are coming up with these robust computers or hardware on which V2V can be implemented easily, for example- Qualcomm, NXP, and so on. These computers can be fitted with infotainment and cluster systems of a vehicle, or it can be a separate stand-alone gateway device with V2V communication protocol capability (DSRC or C-V2X) that can be integrated with any vehicle’s system or infrastructure.
Vehicle-to-Grid communication stands for the Electric Vehicle’s (EV) communication with the power grid, where the vehicle can also push back the power to the grid. For V2G, ISO/IEC has defined 15118 communication standards. Using these standards, the EVs can communicate with the charging station while being connected through a cable. For establishing the EV charging system’s communication with the grid, IEC 15118 is leveraging the Power Line Communication (PLC). To be precise, they have specifically finalized the HomePlug Green Phy (HPGP) PLC as the preferred protocol for high-end data transfer.
Many chip vendors are now providing the HPGP hardware boards that can be provisioned with the EV charging systems to enable power line communication for the EVs and grids. These chargers can be elaborated as bi-directional chargers, where the EVs can push back the energy to the grid, home, and building (V2G, V2H, V2B) with the help of a power line communication.
The automotive industry has moved to a new paradigm where the OEMs are developing safer, smarter, sustainable, and connected vehicles. “According to WHO, approximately 1.2 million people die due to road crashes” (WHO), and the statistics depict why V2V communication and alerts are important for vehicles.
eInfochips is working toward providing these smart mobility solutions to the automotive industry- Telematics, Infotainment, V2V communication with DSRC and C-V2X, and V2G communication with a smart charging solution – all HPGP enabled. eInfochips offers DSRC and HomePlug Green Phy-based hardware and firmware development on platforms like Qualcomm and NXP that can be integrated with vehicles.
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