London, UK-based Oxbotica has partnered with Cisco to demonstrate how its new technology can connect autonomous vehicles to wi-fi networks, for safe and secure uploading and downloading of high-volume data.
Currently, autonomous vehicles are capable of making up to 150 independent detections every second, culminating in around 80GB of data per driven hour from the vehicle’s onboard sensors. This huge mass of high-volume data means that as more fully connected technologies becomes available, current 4G and ever-growing 5G networks will not be able to cost-effectively cope with these cars’ intensive offload needs. Oxbotica predicts that by 2024 as many as 70 million AVs will enter the new car market every year.
The partnership will demonstrate how the OpenRoaming concept will enable AVs and smartphones to connect to trusted and secure wi-fi networks and hotspots without needing security information or a username by using embedded credentials from manufacturers or software companies. Plans include setting up hotspots in fuel stops, EV charging locations, and parking lots to allow updates to navigation systems, infotainment to be streamed and changes to vehicle settings.
The platform is said to be fully scalable no matter the size or location, with trials having already taken place in Stratford, East London in the UK last September.
Oxbotica CEO Ozgur Tohumcu said, “Our software has been designed to operate not dependent upon any infrastructure, so it can understand the vehicle’s environment in infinite detail. However, we fully recognize that in an autonomous world, fleets will need to upload and download vast amounts of data and the partnership with Cisco offers us the chance to solve one of the greatest data challenges of the future.”
