What is C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle to Everything)?

Cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) is an LTE-based technology that allows vehicles to communicate wirelessly with other vehicles, smart infrastructure and pedestrians. C-V2X technology is key to autonomous driving, as the vehicle will need to transmit its position, speed and other parameters to the network and other cars around it. Similarly, it will have to listen to what the network and other cars are transmitting.

As per 3GPP Release 14, C-V2X operates in two modes:

• Device-to-Device: Direct C-V2X, which includes direct communications between vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P). Direct C-V2X communications use dedicated intelligent transportation systems (ITS) 5.9 GHz spectrum that works independently of the cellular networks. The ITS 5.9 GHz spectrum band is dedicated by governments worldwide to enable vehicles to talk to each other without any interference. 
• Device-to-Network: Vehicle-to-Network (V2N) communication provides vehicle information about road and traffic conditions in the area, by using the conventional mobile networks.

Some Interesting Features offered by C-V2X are:

• Platooning: C-V2X can help up to three vehicles to form a convoy in which the vehicles are very close to each other and they all slow down or speed up simultaneously. The distance between the vehicles is so less that it can't be achieved by the human drivers. This platooning will make better use of road space, save fuel and make the transport of goods more efficient. Platooning is not possible for more than three vehicles, as transferring information between vehicles will take too long that will hinder synchronous braking and it also needs the low latency cellular network infrastructure that will be deployed with 5G.
• Co-operative driving: C-V2X can also minimize the disruption caused by lane changes and sudden braking by keeping them connected with each other and help them work together. For example, how to re-enter a slower lane during periods of dense traffic. C-V2X can inform the front vehicle in the slow lane to accelerate slightly, and the car behind to slow down slightly to make sufficient space for the merging car.
• Queue Warning: C-V2X can also warn vehicles about queues or road works ahead so that they can avoid hard braking. This will help vehicles to maintain a consistent speed and avoid traffic jams caused by the ripple effect due to sudden braking and lane changes.
• Avoiding Collisions: C-V2X broadcasts the identity, position, speed and direction of vehicles to each other, so that the on-board computer can evaluate whether any other vehicle is on a potential collision trajectory. If there is the possibility of a collision, then the vehicles concerned can be alerted and evasive actions like braking or accelerating could be taken to avoid collision.
• Hazards Ahead Warning: C-V2X can warn vehicles from hazards like a blind corner, fog, high vehicles, landscape, ice on the road, vehicle braking hard or other obstructions. 
• Increasingly autonomous driving: C-V2X will also play a major role in making vehicles autonomous.

In comparison to Dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) or 802.11p, C-V2X provides an increased communication range, better non-line-of-sight (NLOS) performance, enhanced reliability, and cost efficiency.

Click here to view V2X Modules from the leading manufacturers.