It’s no secret that Israeli startup Autotalks prefers a hybrid model for the connected car that involves both DSRC and cellular. Now the company has announced the launch of its Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) chipset that's capable of supporting both dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) and cellular’s C-V2X based on 3GPP specifications.
Using the PC5 protocol, the chipset supports DSRC based on 802.11p/ITS-G5 standards and the 3GPP specifications for C-V2X. The term V2X is the catch-all that includes both DSRC and C-V2X, which have been competing for mindshare. DSRC is the incumbent technology, but C-V2X proponents say it’s more modern and practical; each are attracting the backing of different auto manufacturers.
While DSRC-based V2X is deployed to some extent in the U.S., Europe and, most notably, Japan, C-V2X is gaining momentum in other regions, according to Autotalks. Its chipsets were designed from the ground up to meet V2X market requirements and standards, which gives its C-V2X offering a head start to meet security environmental, quality, thermal and other requirements, the company says.
“Autotalks is proud to announce that its existing 2nd generation chipset can now support PC5,” said Hagai Zyss, CEO of Autotalks, in a statement. “It is a revolutionary stride proving Autotalks’ market leadership. This demonstrates that a truly secure global V2X solution could have only been developed by a company that has multidisciplinary experience in creating Automotive safety communication solutions. We are committed to staying forward thinkers and bringing to mass-market a V2X solution that will save lives in all regions and protocols in the most cost-efficient manner.”
The company explained that its solution minimizes development, testing and certification efforts for a V2X system to be deployed anywhere, via a software-defined toggle between V2X technologies.
Autotalks’ PC5 solution uses the 5.9 GHz ITS spectrum for V2X and is cellular network-agnostic—no cellular SIM or coverage required; it works with or without any 3G/4G/5G cellular modem.
RELATED: Qualcomm completes C-V2X multichipset vendor interoperability test in China
Last month, Qualcomm Technologies announced that it completed the first successful multichipset vendor interoperability test of LTE-V2X with the Datang Telecom Group, also known as China Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT).
That test involved 3GPP Release 14 C-V2X direct communications Mode 4 at a Qualcomm laboratory in Beijing and used the Qualcomm 9150 C-V2X chipset solution and Datang’s LTE-V2X module, the DMD31. Qualcomm at the time said it represented the maturing state of C-V2X radio technology and applications to improve automotive safety, automated driving and traffic efficiency.