Autonomous vehicles are
expected to be commonplace
by the mid-to-late 2020s.
January/February 2019 I13
not being susceptible to the same oxygen
absorption issues of 60 GHz, distances of up
to three miles with an availability rating of
99.99 percent are purported using similar
power levels of the 60 GHz technologies. As
mentioned earlier, the unlicensed 60 GHz
technology, under the same circumstances,
may achieve only 300 to 400 yards.
802.15: This IEEE working group is less well-known
than the 802.11 group. However, 802.15 may be
touching more of a wireless designer’s everyday
activities than is realized. Bluetooth technology falls
under 802.15, as does Zigbee. 802.15 is currently one of
the major enablers for IoT, but it is short range. It still
requires connectivity through 802.11ac, 802.11n wireless,
or a wired connection to get back to the internet. This is,
in part, what is driving the idea of 802.11ah or HaLow.
Pay attention to 802.11ah, as it could replace both
802.11ac and 802.15 technologies for the smallest
devices in an IoT environment.
5G: Despite ITU’s best efforts to make international
cellular compatibility possible, it is still difficult to travel
overseas and be able to use a cell phone everywhere. ITU’s
IMT-2020 specifications for 5G, still in development,
promise to help that problem, as well as improve
performance levels to new heights. IMT-2020 is officially
scheduled to be published in its entirety sometime in
2020. However, there are providers around the world
launching their versions of 5G in 2018, even though
it is not clear how compliant they will be to the actual
specifications when published. Cellular 5G could be
a single topic for an entire article. To summarize the
technology’s goals, 5G is supposed to provide 10 Gb/s
capacity under ideal conditions with universal 100 Mb/s
access (i.e., performance in high density settings) and less
than 1 millisecond of latency. Testing on early 5G systems
around the world in 2018 is providing very promising
results. If performance goals and levels can be achieved
on a full deployment to the massive cellular market, that
could be a game changer for many other technologies.
One area that could be impacted considerably by the
progress of 5G is autonomous vehicles. The IEEE has been
a pioneer in this technology far longer than the ITU, but
5G could end up the big winner.
DSRC/WAVE: Autonomous vehicles are expected
to be commonplace by the mid-to-late 2020s. Many
semi-autonomous vehicles (Figure 5) are already driving
on highways, while fully autonomous vehicles are being
tested around the world.
In the U.S., one line of thinking uses roadside units
(RSU) and services that support vehicle-to-infrastructure
(V2I) communications. While traveling down the road,
vehicles will have direct access to safety, navigation
and traffic information that is imperceptible to the
occupants of the vehicle. V2I communications is also
being developed for vehicles to undergo diagnostics and
monitoring while parked.
The same wireless technology used for V2I while
driving is also being developed for vehicle-to-vehicle
(V2V) communications. Cars will begin communicating
with each other and can be programmed to play
nice, potentially curbing road rage for good. Another
application will essentially eliminate the “slinky” effect
of stop-and-go rush hours. By monitoring several aspects
of traffic patterns, cars can be set to travel at a certain
speed, regardless of any speed limits in the area to keep
traffic moving
at a consistent
and smooth
pace without
people deciding
the speed.
FIGURE 5: Semi-autonomous vehicles
are already on the road.