V2X Technology

What Is V2X Technology?

A subset of IoT vehicle telemetry data, V2X technology refers to the communication between vehicles on the road and other compatible objects. Within V2X, which stands for vehicle-to-everything, V2V refers to vehicle-to-vehicle communication while V2I refers to vehicle-to-infrastructure—which includes both streetlights and pedestrians.

Why Is It Important to Have V2X Technology?

The primary purpose of V2X technology is safety. By communicating with other cars or inanimate objects, V2X-enabled vehicles avoid accidents. One of the greatest advantages for safety, in fact, is that the short-range wireless signals used by V2X tech allows communication with objects that cannot be seen by the human eye—for example, a car accelerating wildly around a building corner before the driver makes a turn.

Additional, related uses of V2X technology include toll collection and the recovery of stolen vehicles.

What Internal Data Should I Have for a Good V2X Technology System?

Some useful internal V2X data includes gas or electricity usage, speed, acceleration, scheduled maintenance, direction travelled, and necessary vehicle repairs. All of these factors inform the possibility and danger of an accident or inconvenience (for example, running out of fuel before reaching a destination).

What External Data Is Essential for a Good System?

The presence of other vehicles and V2X technology infrastructure are essential, of course. But other vital data include weather, road conditions, and the presence of accidents or traffic on the road ahead.

What External Data May Prove Useful for a Good System?

Additional external data are emitted by infrastructure: for example, street lights, toll bridges, and traffic cameras. Thankfully, municipalities increasingly upgrade their infrastructure with this technology to improve safety.

Finally, whenever possible, include data from devices worn or carried by cyclists and pedestrians so they can also avoid accidents.

What Are the Main Challenges of this Use Case?

As noted in the previous paragraph, not every person has a V2X-compatible device; older vehicles and infrastructure certainly didn’t come with the technology that made it possible and their owners may not have the budget for an upgrade.

Additionally, the wireless signals that provide V2V and V2I data are vulnerable to interference and to inclement weather.

Finally, even when devices can exchange data freely, integrating the information and providing it to vehicle operators in real-time so people can use it remains a challenge. Thankfully, new technology shows that this can be overcome—but it is still a challenge.

Interesting Case Studies and Blogs to Look Into

ZDNet: What is V2X communication? Creating connectivity for the autonomous car era
5GAA: C-V2X Use Cases: Methodology, Examples and Service Level Requirements

Tangible Examples of Impact

Yaniv Sulkes, vice president of business development at Autotalks, said: “Ultimately we all want to get from point A to point B safely and if you get an alert ahead of a potential hazard you can avoid the accident. This is the underlying principle of what we do.

The Sun: Your car could soon talk to other motors and warn you when there’s a hazard ahead