The difficulties and confusions of the smart connected car demonstration zone are not achieved overnight

On October 29, 2016, the 5th Wuhan Automotive Electronics Development Seminar opened as scheduled. The seminar was jointly sponsored by Wuhan China Optics Valley Automotive Electronics Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance (hereinafter referred to as "CECOV") and Japan Kiwi-W Association. Well-known scholars and experts from home and abroad, representatives of automobile companies, parts suppliers and designers and planners from demonstration zones approved in advance from countries such as Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing exchanged and discussed in the form of a roundtable meeting on the "Construction of Intelligent Connected Vehicles and Smart Transportation Demonstration Zones".

Before we start discussing this topic, let’s take a look at the regulations and requirements for the “Internet-connected” part of the intelligent connected vehicle demonstration zone in the “Implementation Plan for Promoting “Internet-connected” Convenient Transportation and Promoting the Development of Intelligent Transportation”:

"Increase support for the research and development of next-generation mobile communications and next-generation mobile Internet transportation application technologies, overcome human-vehicle-road collaborative communication technologies for traffic safety and autonomous driving, and realize vehicle-road information interaction based on traffic-specific short-range communication technologies and existing electronic non-stop toll collection technologies; develop and use LTE with independent intellectual property rights to carry out demonstration applications of smart cars. Demonstrate and promote vehicle-road collaborative technology, and encourage passenger car aftermarket and vehicle manufacturers to actively install on-board facilities with electronic identification, communication and active safety functions."

Therefore, the intelligent vehicle-road cooperative system based on V2X technology and the construction of the next generation of mobile Internet play a vital role in the construction and healthy operation of the intelligent connected vehicle demonstration zone. Experts and scholars from the United States, Japan, Europe, Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and other regions also focused on discussing the above issues.

1. Communication system and next generation Internet construction (intelligent vehicle-road collaboration V2X)

As we all know, the current environmental perception that can be achieved by autonomous driving technology is mainly divided into two types: "passive safety completely relying on its own sensors" and "self-sensors + V2X". Generally speaking, V2X connected car technology mainly includes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-pedestrian communication (V2P). It undertakes the function of exchanging information between the car and the outside world, and can obtain the status of visible and invisible facilities around in real time.

The reason why V2X technology is indispensable for realizing autonomous driving is that in addition to sensing the real-time situation of the outside world through sensors and obtaining the precise location information of objects through high-precision maps and GPS positioning, V2X technology is also needed to sense the surrounding conditions, and sensors are easily affected by weather, environmental and other conditions.

According to Cheyunjun, the two major technology camps for realizing V2X are LTE-V promoted by domestic enterprises ( Datang Telecom , Huawei , etc. ) and the US-dominated DSRC (IEEE 802.11p) standard. Among them, LTE-V is an evolution technology based on the 4G LTE system for intelligent transportation and Internet of Vehicles applications, including two working modes: LTE-V-Cell and LTE-V-Direct. DSRC (dedicated short-range communication technology) is an efficient wireless communication technology developed based on the IEEE 802.11p standard, which can realize real-time, accurate and reliable two-way transmission of images, voice and data within a small range, such as "car-road" and "car-car" two-way communication. DSRC is relatively mature and is also the mainstream technology for Internet of Vehicles in Europe and the United States.

As the “Intelligent Connected Vehicle Standard System Plan” has not yet been released, the vast majority of demonstration zones that have been built or are under construction have adopted the form of “multi-modal ridesharing” to ensure that the projects can proceed smoothly while standards are not yet established.

According to the representatives at the conference, the demonstration area of ​​Shanghai International Automobile City currently adopts the mechanism of Dsrc+LTE-V in parallel in the closed area. The third and fourth phases will be decided according to the government's requirements. Now the main work is to formulate the application layer standards for the Shanghai demonstration area itself, and the interconnection test was demonstrated at the just-concluded 2016 Society of Automotive Engineers Annual Conference. In Hangzhou, Alibaba mainly built 11 micro base stations (LTE-V) and 4 hybrid base stations in Yunqi Town, and LTE-V and Dsrc in Wuzhen, and different applications run in different protocols.

At present, Datang Telecom has demonstrated the industry's first chip-level LTE-V pre-commercial product. It is said that Huawei will release LTE-V products at the end of the year or around the Spring Festival, and will also announce the corresponding technical indicators at that time. Wen Xihua, a representative of the Hangzhou Demonstration Zone-Tongxiang Application Demonstration Project, revealed that "Huawei's indicators should not be much worse than Dsrc. We have actually conducted tests in the Wuzhen Demonstration Zone, and the performance in the cornering scene is not bad."

In addition, experts and scholars expressed their views on the question of "How can the roadside system be used to improve the safety of intelligent driving?" Professor Henry Liu of the University of Michigan believes that "the two modules of Dsrc and LTE-V can work together to push the traffic conditions on the road in real time, inform the driver of potential dangers through broadcasting, and push it to the car at the same time, so that the car can make decisions." Professor Yoshiki Ninomiya from Nagoya University in Japan said that "Japan has also conducted research in the field of V2X for more than 20 years, and has done well in the test field, but it is not suitable for application scenarios in daily life scenarios such as intersections outside the test field. V2V needs to ensure smooth communication, and there must be corresponding regulations in the law, such as forcing the car to turn on the communication equipment... In the research of Nagoya University, the concept of sharing is emphasized, and there are different demands at different stages. The information obtained by all cars needs to be shared, so what needs to be considered is the choice of equipment and the import of communication information."

In response to the above issues and the promotion model suitable for V2X technology, Professor Yao Danya of Tsinghua University pointed out:

"The installation rate is the basic condition for the effective operation of V2V. The question of 'who should be installed first', the V2I on-board system or the roadside system, is similar to the question of 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'. The current solution to this bottleneck problem is to enact laws in the United States to enforce on-board installation; while in China, it can be promoted first on special roads (curves, tunnels, entrances and exits on highways, intersections and mixed traffic areas on urban roads, and sharp bends and steep slopes on provincial and national highways) and special vehicles to promote the popularization and application of the system. For example, vehicles with special functions such as dangerous goods transportation and school buses should be equipped with V2X equipment first to play a leading role."

Professor Yao also provided specific methods for reference:

① The government builds roadside systems in special road areas to provide dynamic information (location, movement) of vehicles and pedestrians around special roads;

② It is mandatory/recommended to install collision avoidance warning devices on special vehicles. Through vehicle-road collaborative warning and vehicle-to-vehicle collaborative warning between special vehicles, vehicle safety can be improved to avoid major accidents such as mass casualties.

In summary, the government builds infrastructure, uses special vehicles for demonstration, and uses the market to encourage vehicle manufacturers and social vehicles to voluntarily install them, thereby improving the overall level of traffic safety. This provides a selling point for car manufacturers, and consumers feel safe and secure.

So how do we establish a trust relationship between self-driving cars and smart road networks? How do we evaluate the reliability of vehicle data and road data? Is coordination with a third party (center) necessary?

Dr. Ogawa, a consultant of Denso, said that in Japan, it is up to the driver to choose which data to trust (on-board system, road test system, third party). Professor Yao believes that V2X data and on-board data should be complementary and should be chosen by passengers or drivers. It should not be too safety-centric and needs to be developed iteratively rather than overnight.

2. Intelligent connected vehicle testing technology

From the perspective of building a demonstration zone for intelligent connected vehicles, the most important thing about testing autonomous driving technology is probably to verify whether the previously preset and desired functions can actually be realized.

Chen Hailin from the Shanghai Demonstration Zone said that the first phase of the project plans to complete 29 test scenarios, and the relevant test standards are being drafted. Of course, they are being drafted in the name of the Shanghai Demonstration Zone, but they hope to discuss and formulate them together with other test sites. Dr. Wang Yuning from Wuhan University of Technology said, "The Wuhan Demonstration Zone attaches great importance to testing. We hope to drive product improvement and market cultivation through testing. From the perspective of customers and applications, we will redefine products with manufacturers, test products through demonstrations, and cultivate smart car culture through demonstrations."

Professor Yao Danya from the Institute of Automation Systems Engineering at Tsinghua University pointed out, "At present, each test area has certain limitations in extension, and is mainly focused on the realization of intelligent network functions. The tests in the Shanghai demonstration area are mainly to test communications and verify which communication method can meet the needs of specific application scenarios, and then formulate communication standards at the application layer. These will be improved step by step in the future. As for issues such as data sharing, it is an important business for the development of the test site, because you can use data to attract car manufacturers to come for testing."

However, a guest from Telu Technology raised the following question: Where is the standardized design process for the test site? Who will confirm whether the technical indicators to be achieved are met? What is the difference between the design of traditional test sites and intelligent connected vehicle test sites?

Ms. Wu Qiong, a representative from the Beijing Demonstration Zone, replied, "The Beijing Demonstration Zone is a condensed reproduction of the traffic scenes of a megacity. As for the standards, the industry and policy circles have not yet reached a consensus. So is it also the direction of future intelligent connected vehicle testing to simulate actual scenes on simulators by collecting sensor data? Is it possible to establish unified standards and design unified test samples? This requires OEMs to provide more data sharing."

Dr. Adriano Alessandrini, head of European CityMobil2, said, "Designing a standardized test process is key. The design of the test site is based on the test method, which can combine simulation analysis and test site testing."

Professor Yao Danya believes that "it is not clear how to test, but it should be clear what to test. Don't mix too many scenarios, do it step by step. Testing involves both cost and risk. It is not appropriate to test on the field as soon as possible. Before conducting field tests, simulation and closed tests must be carried out to obtain a large amount of data support. At this stage, the testing of intelligent connected vehicles we are talking about is actually a test of technical feasibility."

Ford Fusion self-driving car tested at MCity in Detroit Ford Fusion self-driving car tested at MCity in Detroit

3. How can car manufacturers participate in the construction of intelligent connected vehicle demonstration zones?

Finally, let’s get back to the most practical question. Although most of the intelligent connected vehicle demonstration zones currently under construction in various places with the approval of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are for the purpose of “demonstration”, one important point is how to attract OEMs to test in the demonstration zones, and how can OEMs participate in the construction of the demonstration zones?

Great Wall Motors attaches great importance to the demonstration zone. It has discussed a lot of cooperation with the Beijing Demonstration Zone. Considering the interests of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei community, Great Wall Motors has a site in Xushui. Great Wall Motors has some specific work in the field of intelligent connected vehicles and believes that it has great potential. It is actively participating in it and is also following the direction of national policies. Whether it is DSRC or LTE-V, it is communicating with suppliers, Huawei, and Datang Telecom on how to build it. The most critical issue here may still be the standard issue. During the project, it will be tested on the highway in combination with the characteristics of Great Wall models.

Dr. Bian Ning from Dongfeng Motor Technology Center also expressed his own views. He believes that from the perspective of product application, there is no mass-produced model of intelligent connected vehicles yet, and the OEMs are also trying to define it, of course, mainly from the perspectives of technology, testing, and risk. From the technical level and scenario definition level, it can be considered from the L1/L2 stage. From the perspective of the OEM, in the next 2 to 3 years, the main focus may still be on the development and testing of the ADAS advanced driver assistance system.

Su Xiaocong, general manager of Wuhan Guangting Technology, said that domestic independent brand car manufacturers have different R&D progress in the field of intelligent connected vehicles, and the development situation is uneven. China's road traffic has its own characteristics, including regulations, which may not be very perfect. The relationship between car manufacturers and demonstration areas, the latter may need guidance and organization, while the former needs to follow up in the early stage, and the window period for intelligent connected vehicles may be relatively long. The demonstration role is the focus, and the design of the test scene may not be the focus. The focus will be on product testing later.

As for the data issue that everyone is concerned about, Chen Hailin, a representative of the Shanghai Demonstration Zone, revealed that "car manufacturers have high confidentiality requirements for test content and methods, and data utilization issues are also under further discussion. Car companies have high requirements for test sites, and they are also in contact with foreign companies. The other party has put forward requirements for infrastructure, and the demonstration zone will also design and improve it according to customer needs and humanization." In contrast, the test site under construction in the Beijing Demonstration Zone itself has the participation of OEM main manufacturers and Internet car manufacturing companies, so there is no need to worry about enthusiasm and driving force.

Finally, Professor Yao Danya of Tsinghua University proposed two ideas to attract car companies to the demonstration zone to participate in the testing of intelligent connected vehicles:

First, data (your test site can provide information that the OEM cannot obtain elsewhere);

Secondly, interconnection (taking ETC as an example), assuming that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has mandatory standards, it must be sold after testing in the test center. This can greatly increase the dependence of car companies on the demonstration area.

However, Professor Yao also pointed out that intelligent connected cars are more complicated because they involve the interaction between cars and infrastructure and other car machines. However, GM and Changan have conducted interconnection tests before, which is the advantage of the test site.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.