FCC May Soon OK Full Deployment of C-V2X at 5.9 GHz: Qualcomm
The FCC is moving quickly to allow cellular vehicle-to-everything deployments in the 5.9 GHz band, said Dean Brenner, Qualcomm senior vice president-spectrum strategy and technology policy, during a virtual Qualcomm conference Tuesday. The conference featured companies and government agencies anxious to fully deploy C-V2X. The FCC is expected to consider rules as early as commissioners' Oct. 27 meeting (see 2009090058).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Commissioners are united in supporting changes to rules that will allow C-V2X in the band beyond pilot projects, Brenner said. “Unless and until the FCC makes a decision changing its rules … C-V2X cannot be commercially deployed in the 5.9 GHz band.” Progress industry is making “has not gone unnoticed” and is “spurring the FCC to move towards a decision,” he said.
Brenner is “cautiously optimistic” the agency will act this year. China already allocated 20 MHz for C-V2X and automakers there will start deploying in the 5.9 GHz band before the end of the year, he said: Once the FCC makes a decision “our whole team at Qualcomm is going to be working nonstop, as quickly as possible, to get C-V2X commercially launched, as broadly and as rapidly as possible.”
“Massive production” of C-V2X devices will start soon in China, and spread elsewhere, said Maxime Flament, 5G Automotive Association chief technology officer. Regulators in Europe are acting to provide spectrum for C-V2X, he said. In China, 13 manufacturers published a road map for “mass production of C-V2X” this year, he said. In Korea, 115,000 base stations are installed, he said.
Audi of America “has been and continues to be 100% invested” in connected vehicles, said Anupam Malhotra, director-connected vehicles and data. “C-V2X promises a new generation of vehicles that are capable of communicating not just through cell towers, but also directly with roadside infrastructure, vehicles and other road users,” he said: “C-V2X presents an essential opportunity to address the tragedy of road casualties,” totaling 36,000 yearly in the U.S.
American Tower has 180,000-plus towers and operates in-building communications systems, said CTO Edward Knapp. “These are shared infrastructure that create economies of scale and benefits,” he said. “We hope to apply that same model” to C-V2X, he said: Installations start with a “basic safety layer” and can “eventually add a number of sophisticated sensors to support the smart … intersection of the future.”
Control boxes at intersections today control traffic lights, Knapp said. The first step is to connect it to the IoT, allowing monitoring of “the state of the light,” he said: C-V2X lets the light directly communicate with vehicles. The next step is adding other broadband connections and sensors, giving localities richer data, he said. Audi, American Tower, Qualcomm Technologies and the Virginia Department of Transportation announced agreement. They plan to work together on “improving work zone and vehicle safety for Virginia roadways, while expanding safety" uses.