The technology is called Cellular-V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything). This involves cars talking to other vehicles and their surroundings via mobile communications. Bosch, Vodafone and Huawei have been testing the new technology in live operation since February 2017. The first 5G test modules are being tested on the A9 highway in Bavaria. The companies are now demonstrating for the first time that driver assistance functions such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) also benefit from direct and virtually instantaneous data transmission.

Until now, Cellular-V2X has been tested as a real-time warning system when changing lanes on the highway or when the vehicle in front brakes unexpectedly. ACC now not only warns the driver, it also accelerates and brakes automatically. The new mobile communication system is therefore a pioneer for automated driving. On the way to fully networked road traffic, vehicles will learn to communicate with each other and exchange data directly. This direct communication will provide additional information, for example about what is happening in blind intersections, on the road behind the hilltop or on the highway next to and behind your own car.

Via mobile radio: See further than sensors can reach
ACC maintains the speed entered by the driver and, thanks to a radar sensor, also the set distance to the vehicle in front. The adaptive cruise control recognizes a vehicle suddenly entering the lane as soon as it is detected by the radar sensor. If cars with Cellular-V2X communicate with each other directly and in real time, this is possible earlier. Networked vehicles use mobile communications to send information such as their position and speed directly to all vehicles within a radius of more than 300 meters - without detours via the base stations and with virtually no time delays. This means that one vehicle knows the driving behavior of the others around it. If, for example, a car suddenly turns in front of its own vehicle, the ACC knows what is about to happen - even before the driver himself or the radar sensor detects it. The car then automatically adjusts its speed earlier than before so that the vehicle in front can change lanes seamlessly. As soon as there is sufficient space to the vehicle in front, ACC automatically accelerates to the set desired speed. This makes driving even more relaxed, even in heavy traffic, and prevents abrupt braking and acceleration. Overall, traffic becomes smoother and more efficient because vehicles can anticipate and move along comfortably.

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