While it has taken a long time for technologies to be developed for Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), Qualcomm Technologies (NASDAQ:QCOM) is trying to do its part to accelerate the development of technologies that will ultimately make roads safer.
In fact, the company says V2X technology is already here. Wi-Fi-based 820.11p has established the foundation for latency-critical Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications. To improve road safety for future light vehicles in the United States, the National Highway Safety Administration is expected to begin rulemaking for DSRC this year, notes Maged Zaki, director of technical marketing at Qualcomm, in a blog post.
Zaki told FierceWirelessTech that 5G is going to be designed from scratch to connect new industries and new services, and V2X will be a critical component to 5G. But that doesn't mean all the efforts in 4G are going to go by the wayside. 5G will be backward compatible and "it will complement what we are doing with Cellular V2X," he said.
Matt Branda, director of technical marketing at Qualcomm, echoed that sentiment, saying what happens in the future will be built on Cellular V2X. One of the perks about working in the auto environment is the form factor is not as space constrained and it's more feasible to have a multi-mode system to handle the additional functionality that comes with 5G.
Qualcomm is actively driving the Cellular V2X work in 3GPP. The company just announced the Qualcomm Connected Car Reference Platform aimed at accelerating the adoption of advanced connectivity into the next generation of connected cars. The platform allows automakers and their suppliers to explore, prototype and commercialize connectivity designs using modules and solutions offered based on Qualcomm Technologies' roadmap. For more, see this blog post and this press release.