The Sensor: Lingua Vehiculum: The Competition For Connected Car Communication

The safe and efficient operation of connected and autonomous vehicles ("CAVs") depends on CAVs communicating with various systems and actors. This issue provides an overview of the two leading connected vehicle communication technologies: DSRC and 5G C-V2X, along with jurisdictional highlights on these technologies from the European Union, the United States, China, and Canada.

Background:

CAVs need to communicate with:

Vehicles (Vehicle to Vehicle communication, "V2V"); Infrastructure (Vehicle to Infrastructure communication, "V2I"); Pedestrians (Vehicle to Pedestrian communication, "V2P"); Networks (Vehicle to Network communication, "V2N"); Devices (Vehicle to Device communication, "V2D"); To make things simpler, we can use Vehicle to Everything communication ("V2X") as an all encompassing term that captures the aforementioned V2V, V2I, V2P, V2N, V2D and all other CAVs communication.

All this communication means that CAVs produce enormous and increasing amounts of data. To put this in perspective, consider that in a single day, CAVs currently being tested produce as much data as the Hubble Telescope produces in a full year.

Rapid and reliable V2X communication is the key technology required to facilitate the deployment of Level 4 and 5 CAVs. Under the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council's Connected Vehicles Work-Plan, Transport Canada and the U.S. Department of Transportation will "coordinate and collaborate" on vehicle communication technology.

Given the key role communication technology will play in the CAVs market, there is serious competition amongst automakers, tech companies and regulators in search of the V2X communication protocol that can unlock the full potential of CAVs.

Today, there are two main V2X technologies in competition:

  1. Dedicated Short Range Communication ("DSRC")

In 1999, the American Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated 75 MHz in the 5.9 GHz ITS Band (5850-5925 Mhz) for DSRC service in the Intelligent Transportation System ("ITS") radio service.

DSRC is also known as ITS-G5 and/or 802.11p. Consequently, DSRC has been the dominant protocol recommended for connected vehicle communication. On December 13, 2016, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration ("NHTSA") proposed a new rule (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard ["FMVSS"] 150) to mandate DSRC communication on light vehicles, enabling new crash-avoidance applications that could prevent hundreds of thousands of crashes every...

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