Savari Brings 5G to Connected Cars

author: Claire   

California based automation company Savari has recently joined the 5G Automotive Association, to bring cellular communications to connected cars. This is the first time a V2X (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure) technology solution provider to join the group of leading automotive suppliers and automakers.

As a company founded in 2008 and based in Santa Clara, Savari claims to have more than 150 man-years of V2X learning and development, and 15 million-plus miles per year of public testing. The company builds software and hardware sensor solutions for OEM automotive car manufacturers, smart cities, and pedestrians with the vision of making transportation predictive, safer and more efficient.

"We believe cellular-V2X technology plays a very important role in the widespread adoption of V2X. Savari's V2X hardware, safety applications, and data services support either DSRC or cellular-V2X standards. We're pleased to join and collaborate with 5GAA's members on developing the standards for cellular-V2X communications, promoting interoperability across the industry, for connected and autonomous car applications," said Ravi Puvvala, CEO, Savari.

What's special about 5G technology?

5G simply stands for fifth generation, and refers to the next and newest mobile wireless standard. With the technology, cars can send and receive messages 10 times per second. According to Savari, when data can be processed in a much faster way, the car can provide warnings 3 seconds in advance to a driver when an accident happens.

5G communications also means the collected data can be uploaded to the cloud and distributed via cellular network to other cars using 5G technology. This way, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V) can be more efficient and occur sooner. Suppose there's a construction site currently blocking a road, cars using 5G technology and driving on that road can share the information via network, allowing other vehicles to receive a traffic alert to avoid that road until the project is completed.

For DSRC (dedicated short-range communications), which is already being tested in V2X communications for vehicles, it sends simple radio signals based on Wi-Fi technology. 5G technology is twice as fast as DSRC. When a self-driving car is gathering data to prevent crashes, it needs to quickly process information and react. The main advantage of DSRC is that it's been developed and tested for more than a decade; its stability and familiarity is likely to appeal to the NHTSA, the agency that will issue the mandate on V2X communications.

What is 5GAA?

Last September, AUDI AG, BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm announced the formation of the "5G Automotive Association". The association's mission is to "develop, test and promote communications solutions, support standardization and accelerate commercial availability and global market penetration." Their goal is to address society's connected mobility and road safety needs with applications such as connected automated driving, ubiquitous access to services, and integration into smart cities and intelligent transportation.

Upon joining the association, Savari says its role in the group will be to help create standards that work across the industry as semi-autonomous cars and fully autonomous cars are tested and eventually sold.The company got $8 million Series A funding in 2015 from major automakers in the U.S. and China.

Claire

Claire Peng has over 6 years of professional experience in the media industry, covering TV, newspaper and online media. She was once a reporter and producer for Fairchild Television based in Toronto Canada, and worked as an English news reporter for the Global Times in Beijing. She writes mainly about self-driving, companies investment, and the enterprise lab.