Editor’s note: Part 1 of our two-part series considers what needs to happen in order to realize connected automation in vehicles. Part 2 addresses some of the physical infrastructure challenges likely to confront autonomous vehicles.

A visit to almost any auto show in the last few years confirms that autonomy and connectivity will shape the car of the future. Although the technologies are developing and refining their capabilities simultaneously, they have two different, unrelated objectives.

Autonomous vehicles are self-contained in that they rely solely on cameras, radar, LIDAR, and corresponding software to detect objects in all directions. With connected vehicle technology, cars and roadside infrastructure communicate with each other wirelessly. Neither autonomous nor connected systems rely on the other to operate.

“We don't need vehicular networking to be able to have driverless vehicles on the road,” says Jeffrey Miller, associate professor of engineering practice in the University of Southern California’s computer science department. “However, there are situations that we can make safer, or more enjoyable, by having it.

This intersection of technologies, sometimes called “connected automation,” could signal a more reliable transportation system that results in fewer traffic accidents and fatalities. To reach that destination, transportation agencies and automakers first will have to overcome a number of deployment barriers.

Getting Vehicles, Infrastructure to Talk

Today’s cars already have many degrees of connectivity through cellular, satellite radio and Wi-Fi. But still larger benefits may come from vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. These applications put cars in constant communication with each other and their surroundings to help prevent collisions.

V2V and V2I make use of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), a Wi-Fi derivative technology in the 5.9 GHz spectrum that is allocated to vehicle safety applications. DSRC offers low latency and fast network acquisition, allowing each car to transmit messages 10 times per second.

Jim Barbaresso, HNTB Corp.Jim Barbaresso, HNTB Corp.The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has led the development of V2V for the past 10 years. The agency’s research has found that connected vehicle technology could reduce unimpaired vehicle crashes by 80 percent while easing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions as well.

V2V-equipped cars provide situational awareness by transmitting information such as speed, acceleration and brake status to the on-board equipment of surrounding vehicles. In turn, those cars interpret the data and provide warnings to their own driver as necessary.

V2I technology, by contrast, transmits data between vehicles and the road infrastructure to alert drivers to imminent hazards — especially those out of reach from autonomous vehicle sensors — such as sudden vehicle stops, icy patches of road and collision paths during lane changes. V2I also serves as something of a two-way street, where infrastructure operators use the collected data to improve traffic, weather and corridor management, as well as support their operations and maintenance activities.

Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication showing types of V2I messages that can be delivered. Image source: DOT.  Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication showing types of V2I messages that can be delivered. Image source: DOT. For example, when a connected car with autonomous function hits a water-filled pothole that was undetectable by sensors, the vehicle’s brakes and suspension might deflect upon impact. V2I connectivity “sends that information, and the hole’s location, to the transportation system owners,” says Randy Iwasaki, P.E., executive director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) in California. The agency operates GoMentum Station, a research and testing facility for next-generation transportation network infrastructure in Concord, Calif.

Additional types of data that could lead to better decision-making include lighting conditions and ambient air temperature, as well as accelerometer data, which detects pavement surface roughness.

Refining Capabilities

Over the past decade of developing V2V and V2I, the DOT has noted multiple milestones that support the technology’s efficacy. In 2012, it equipped more than 2,700 vehicles in Ann Arbor, Mich., with V2V communications to help drivers avoid crashes as they traveled their normal routes. Safety apps warned of incidents like vehicles in blind spots or impending red-light violations.

A 2014 research report from the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that two safety applications — left-turn assist (LTA) and intersection movement assist (IMA) — could prevent up to 592,000 crashes and save 1,083 lives annually. LTA warns drivers not to turn left in front of another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. IMA alerts the driver if it is unsafe to enter an intersection due to a high probability of colliding with one or more vehicles.

Recent announcements have pushed connected vehicle technology even closer to reality. In a 2015 report to Congress, the DOT said that DSRC is ready for deployment as it “offers a path to a safer and more efficient surface transportation system for America.”

Then, in December 2015, DOT proposed rulemaking to require the installation of V2V communications equipment in all new vehicles. Automaker Cadillac claims that its 2017 CTS mid-size sedan will be the first car to bring V2V communication to production. Mercedes-Benz also says that its 2017 E-Class will feature the technology.

Growing Pains

For all the advantages it promises, connected vehicle technology remains in its infancy. Integrating V2V and V2I into autonomous cars is even farther afield, but transportation agencies and automakers are laying the groundwork.

One concern in connected vehicle technology relates to security. V2V technology does not involve collecting or exchanging personal information, or tracking drivers or their vehicles. As with any data exchanged over a network, however, V2V and V2I applications raise a number of security concerns.

Transportation stakeholders are developing a scaled security management system for connectivity.

“Vehicle-to-vehicle devices need to have some sort of security certificate or credential management,” says Jim Barbaresso, national practice leader, Intelligent Transportation Systems, at infrastructure engineering firm HNTB Corp. Another challenge toward V2I implementation is what Barbaresso calls the “complex ecosystem” required of the technology. This includes traffic signal controllers, roadside appliances that collect probe data or broadcast alerts to vehicles, and ways to handle the backhaul network.

“When cars are broadcasting a basic safety message 10 times per second, you need considerable infrastructure to collect, store and analyze all that data being generated,” Barbaresso says.

Similarly, questions arise for public agencies when it comes to how much data will exist and who owns it because the basic safety message being communicated contains proprietary information. Groups like highway toll agencies that conduct financial transactions also will need to provide additional network security “to protect that data and their own hard assets,” Barbaresso says.

Problems with DSRC could plague connected vehicle technology before it fully gets off the ground. Although the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated the 5.9 GHz spectrum range for V2V applications more than a decade ago, it has received limited use for operational tests and research projects. That makes it difficult to predict how it will work under greater deployment.

According to Barbaresso, commercial telecommunications providers want to dip into this little-accessed spectrum as they require more bandwidth for the impending Internet of Things. Critics of the DSRC spectrum say that putting it to other uses could yield benefits such as raising revenue for the government and better enabling commerce and Internet access.

There’s also skepticism about using radio messages to transmit safety-critical information. Edwin Olson, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan, calls it a “dicey proposition” because of the unreliability of the radio network itself.

Connected Vehicle Technology can help vehicles "platoon" at the same speed. Image source: DOT.  Connected Vehicle Technology can help vehicles "platoon" at the same speed. Image source: DOT. “It is hard to guarantee that someone isn’t interfering with the network as a whole, whether maliciously or unintentionally,” says Olson. He is working with Ford to develop its autonomous vehicle technology. Even so, among autonomous vehicles that incorporate V2V and V2I, the independently operating sensors will override any outside data that might try to control the vehicle. As USC’s Miller puts it, “You’re not just going to barrel into that semi truck in front of you at 100 miles an hour.”

Integration at Work

Although the full impact of connected automation might be a decade or two away, automakers and transportation agencies are learning lessons as they address these challenges. In its high-end Lexus models, for example, Toyota is testing a concept called platooning. Platooning occurs when two vehicles are in continuous communication through the radar sensor and wireless network and as they travel 5 - 10 feet away from each other at 55 mph. If the wireless connection is lost, the trailing vehicle backs off and relies solely on its adaptive cruise control to detect how far away it is from the lead vehicle.

“Connected automation will have huge impact on infrastructure owners,” HNTB’s Barbaresso says. Like the Lexus that knows when to back off, the technology will “help us dramatically reduce vehicle crashes and resulting fatalities and injuries.”

Read Part 2 of this series.

To contact the author of this article, email GlobalSpeceditors@globalspec.com