5G in the Future connected car. - m.lairdtech.com status and applicati on areas of 5G The introducti on of the new 5G mobile standard is currently being prepared. The re-quirements

5G in the Future connected car.How the new mobile standard makes the vision of connected driving become a reality

INTRODUCTION

According to a study by Ericsson, 15 percent of the world’s population will use the new 5G mobile standard by 2020, and the number of 5G subscriptions will break the 500 million mark in 2022. Fo-recasts also suggest that more than 1 million new mobile broadband subscribers will be added every day within the next six years – thus adding 2.6 billion subscribers by the end of 2022. Those figures hint at 5G’s incredible market potential, especially considering that the study does not include the Internet of Things (IoT) or connected cars. Yet they are a key target group for 5G devices – after all, the new standard pursues the goal of integrating “machines” optimally in mobile communications for the first time. 5G is therefore not just an issue for the telecommunications sector, but for other bran-ches of industry as well. The automotive industry, for example, sees it as a means of achieving future visions – such as the connected car for self-driving – in the best possible way. That’s a task that will require overcoming a number of obstacles ranging from the standardization of 5G guidelines to the implementation of security features in the connected car, to challenges like antenna alignment. This white paper addresses these 5G implementation questions, deals with challenges in relation to the development of powerful 5G antennas, and discusses the introduction of security standards in the connected car. Finally, it illustrates the possibilities that 5G offers the connected car and the economy.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/mobility-report

Figure 1 – Mobile subscriptions by technologies (in billions)Source: www.ericsson.com/en/mobility-report

Current status and applicati on areas of 5G

The introducti on of the new 5G mobile standard is currently being prepared. The re-quirements for the standard have been set initi ally and now its detailed defi niti on and subsequent implementati on are being launched. The successor to the current mobile standard LTE (4G) is intended to improve latencies, deliver higher bandwidth, and create the foundati on for new possible applicati ons thanks to its enhanced per-formance. There will be several development levels or “releases.” Standardizati -on of the fi rst 5G Release 15 is expected for the fall of 2018 and will mainly set the specifi cati ons for the 5G new radio (NR) interface. Integrati on of higher frequency bands will be enabled, among other things, in the second release planned for 2020.

Experts currently see huge potenti al for 5G in three applicati on areas:

The fi rst applicati on area regards the consumer sector (enhanced mobile broadband – eMBB), in which greater traffi c and lower network power consumpti on are expected to enable a large number of devices to be used simultaneously without network losses. That will mainly enhance user convenience and quality of experience (QoE). For instance, when there are large crowds like at concerts or sporti ng events where many private devices are used concurrently, network capacity must be adequate for these concentrated numbers.

A second applicati on area is massive machine type communicati on (mMTC), an issue that is becoming relevant especially in relati on to networking of all types of device as part of the IoT. The objecti ve will be to enable communicati on of up to one million connected devices per square kilometer.

However, it is especially the third potenti al applicati on that has aroused the automoti ve in-dustry’s interest in 5G: ultra-reliable low latency (URLL), which ensures reliable connecti ons and short transmission ti mes. This is vital to progressing self-driving vehicle technology.

Since 5G opti mizes the integrati on of machines and cars in mobile communicati ons, several stakeholders are involved in defi ning the 5G standards. Whereas the big players in the communicati ons industry defi ned the existi ng standards, such as UMTS and LTE, new players are getti ng into the act with 5G. For this purpose, the automoti ve indust-ry has established the 5GAA, a body for defi ning requirements for 5G standardizati on. A common defi niti on is important so that effi cient communicati on between devices from diff erent manufacturers is possible — for instance in road traffi c.

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LAIRD AS A 5G ANTENNA MANUFACTURER

Laird is a global leader in the field of radio frequency (RF) technology – from development and producti-on to life-long system support. The company is uniquely positioned to help customers protect and net-work their products, components and systems so as to enable the Enterprise Internet of Things (EIoT). Laird is currently the only tier 1 vendor that can unite expertise in antenna design with experience in vehicle communication devices. Enhanced mobile broadband is crucial for Laird: 5G will use new fre-quencies that are based on mmWaves and use the 28 GHz band — which is 10 times broader than the LTE band. That is vital to the development of smart antennas, which Laird is steadily driving forward.

Guido Dornbusch, Vice President Product Management at Laird

5GAA

The 5GAA, which was established at the end of 2016, develops, tests and promotes communica-tions solutions, supports their standardization and accelerates the commercial availability of re-levant products and solutions. Its goal is to address the desire for connected mobility and safety concepts with applications such as connected autonomous driving and comprehensive access to services. Laird is currently the only tier 1 supplier that unites experience in antenna design and de-velopment of vehicle communication devices. As a member of the 5GAA, the company is bolstering its activities aimed at further accelerating the networking of cars and road traffic. Integration of 5G will make the connected car part of the Internet of Things ecosystem. Cars will then not only com-municate with each other, but also with other vehicles, such as bicycles, or even with infrastruc-tures like parking systems. This will increase road safety and pave the way to autonomous driving.

Ulrich Möhlmann, Director Technology Connected Vehicle Solutions at Laird

Challenges relati ng to omni-directi onal antennas and signal strength

Even though the automoti ve industry is very opti misti c about the future of 5G, the-re are sti ll many details that have to be addressed to implement the technology. One challenge is integrati ng mobile communicati ons in respect to antenna technology, with the ulti mate goal of creati ng a “smart antenna.” Currently, signals are transmit-ted via cable connecti ons from an antenna on a vehicle’s roof to the on-board elec-tronics, which are oft en located in the driver’s cockpit. With the need for more band-width, 5G will explore a wider operati ng frequency range from 6 GHz up to 100 GHz, where sending signals from the antenna to the electronics via cable would result in large losses. That means the electronics, and thus signal processing, must be positi -oned close to the antenna – i.e. directly under the roof or in the antenna. One prob-lem with that is the fl uctuati ng weather conditi ons the electronics are then exposed to. High temperatures and fl uctuati ons under the roof and in the antenna itself take a heavy toll on the electronics performance and operati ng life cycle. Only a few ma-nufacturers are able to combine the electronics and antenna under such conditi ons.

Moreover, the expansion of the frequency range from a current 6 GHz up to 100 GHz increases radio fi eld att enuati on, which means that signals can only be received at a lower distance. That results in problems with omni-directi onal antennas, which cannot then receive signals or can only do so to a limited extent. Although the distance can be increased through pinpointed alignment of the antennas, devices then have to be fi tt ed with a large number of antennas. As the result, only the antennas in the direc-ti on of the transmitt er can be used. Roadside units must also be equipped with direc-ti onal antennas in order to transmit the signal to devices in passing cars. Some anten-na manufacturers and car makers are already working together to solve this problem.

Figure 2 – The connected vehicle as part of the IoT environment

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SECURITY IN THE CONNECTED CAR

Security testing will be of special importance in the future in the battle against cybercrime. Penetration tests in particular enable security gaps to be revealed. In these tests, the tester tries to penetrate the system deliberately with the means and methods used by hackers. The results supply information on the current degree of security and are used as the basis for developing countermeasures to eliminate critical weaknesses. In addition, the organization and development processes need to be adapted to the new circumstances. End-to-end risk analyses, for example, have not traditionally been the rule, but should be one of the absolute requirements manufacturers have of their suppliers. Such an analy-sis investigates potential attacks on all the components in the chain and their effects on data security and ultimately functional safety. The results can then be used as the basis for defining suitable protec-tive measures. This success of this procedure can only be guaranteed if the OEM, the supplier of the back-end solution and the control unit manufacturers cooperate from an early stage of development.

Dr. Holger Hilmer, Senior Engineer Technology Research at Laird

Security in the connected car

The issue of security plays a key role, parti cularly in vehicles. Security protocol was taken into account from the outset of 5G’s development, resulti ng in a standard that is more secure than WLAN. Yet protecti ng the air interface is not enough to prevent att acks on a connected car. Many control units and communicati ons systems within the vehicle are vulnerable. Control devices, such as a TCU (telemati cs control unit) or a head unit, are at parti cular risk since they have a large number of wireless interfaces and thus are gateways for potenti al att acks. In a worst-case scenario, such att acks may impair safe-ty-related functi ons by being spread via the vehicle’s bus systems.

For years experts have observed that a majority of malware is now tailored to mobile devices. It would be reckless to believe that the connected car will be spared. That’s why manufacturers and suppliers alike must consider the issue of security in the connec-ted car – especially in relati on to introducti on of the new mobile standard. In the fu-ture, vehicles will become personal mobile devices that owners will use to communi-cate and possibly personalize with apps. But this will off er many new opportuniti es for manipulati on by cybercriminals. Security experts and hackers are already in a constant race against each other – and that will not change when it comes to the connected car. Connected vehicles must therefore be supplied with regular updates in the future so that they are protected against new threats. Yet that is just one of the major challenges, especially in view of the anti cipated mass of networked devices.

One way of supplying the large number of devices in vehicles with updates in a short ti mespan is to load soft ware over the mobile communicati ons interface: fi rmware over-the-air (FOTA). This method off ers the potenti al for fast, ongoing patch repairs of weak-nesses, the integrati on of new functi ons and the modernizati on of cryptographic me-thods that are used to protect control units, for example. However, it is necessary to ensure that the FOTA process itself can be carried out securely and quickly and does not mean additi onal potenti al for att acks. That requires, among other things, cryptographic protecti on of the air interface.

Figure 3 – Wireless interfaces in the car Figure 4 – The FOTA gateway approach

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The future of 5G in the connected car

5G will soon replace the current mobile standard LTE. Experts assume that there will be 250 million networked cars and trucks on the road worldwide by 2020 and that all new vehicles will be connected with the IoT in 2025. The future vision of the connected car appears within reach. Unti l that can become reality, car makers are att aching great importance to installing all safety- and security-related sensors in the car itself so that it can act autonomously without any networking and does not have to rely on wireless connecti ons. Functi ons that operate using wireless connecti ons will be used to enhance convenience for drivers. For example, through wireless networking the car is informed of a traffi c jam caused by an accident ahead, and can independently select an alternati -ve route to avoid unnecessary waits. Even though all the cars on our roads will not be-come “smart” at one stroke from 2022 on, our experience to date with the introducti on of new mobile standards means we can expect the dawn of a new age in which mobile communicati ons act more and more as an enabler for future visions as part of the IoT.

5G AS A BUSINESS MODEL FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS

5G not only off ers new possibiliti es for the automoti ve industry, as service provi-ders will also be able to tap new business models with the data generated as a re-sult of the new mobile standard and the innovati ons it produces, such as the connected car. For example, road operators could conceivably use connected vehic-le data to establish a toll system based on vehicle traffi c models. The toll fee could be calculated using vehicle data, such as the vehicle’s weight class and the distan-ce traveled. Likewise, self-driving vehicles could use privileged lanes and thus en-able convenient driving and mobility. Another business idea is to adapt insuran-ce premiums to driving habits calculated on the basis of vehicle data. Playing sponsored customer-specifi c content (e.g. sports news) while a driver is waiti ng at a red light is another way for service providers to get aboard the 5G bandwagon.

Cristi na Cipriani, Product Marketi ng Manager at Laird

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