The “Real-Time Communication between vehicles via the LTE Mobile Network” project jointly launched by Continental, Deutsche Telekom, the Fraunhofer ESK Institute, and Nokia on the A9 motorway in Germany has won the top award in the best-practice competition of the Intelligent Networking Initiative in the “Traffic” category.

All award winners were honored during Cebit 2016 by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Intelligent Networking Initiative.

The competition winners were decided by a jury of experts in digitization from the German National IT Summit, the Intelligent Networking Initiative, and the Open Innovation Community. “With the ‘Applications on the A9 Digital Test Track’ project, we are especially delighted to honor a partnership of telecommunication companies, the automotive industry, and research. Broad and transparent dialog is a core element of the Intelligent Networking Initiative, and the project is a real-life example of how cross-industry cooperation is contributing to the success of digitization in Germany,” said Thilo Zelt, head of the Intelligent Networking Initiative.

Pooling expertise for safe driving and real-time communication

In this award-winning joint project, vehicles traveling on the digital test track – the A9 Autobahn – share hazard information via the LTE mobile network.

This is accomplished by the use of technology, to be defined by the global, 5G communication standard.

For the first time, communication takes place virtually in real time because the signal latency between two vehicles is reduced to less than 20 milliseconds through the use of plug-in modules – or “cloudlets” – installed at the LTE base stations.

By pooling their core competencies, the project partners have demonstrated how large-scale, real-time communication between vehicles and infrastructure could look in the future.

The LTE mobile technology was developed by Nokia and the network constructed by Deutsche Telekom. Nokia contributed the “cloudlets” using Mobile-Edge Computing technology, which, in combination with the position-locating technology developed by Fraunhofer ESK, ensures rapid data transmission. The vehicle electronics interface developed by Continental allows the implementation of a range of applications, designed to make driving safer and more comfortable.

According to Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, CTO, Deutsche Telekom: “The development of 5G technology has reached an exciting phase globally. We’re not just talking about it – we’re trialing it, too. Our joint project demonstrates how driving can be made much safer. This is all possible thanks to an intelligent infrastructure that adapts itself in line with people’s needs and, in this case, allows an extremely long time in which to react, and helps to prevent hazardous situations.”

Also, Frank Försterling, Head of Sales and Portfolio for Interior Electronics Solutions, in the Interior Division at Continental said, “Receiving this award for best-practice solution in the Traffic sector strengthens our resolve to continue developing intelligent mobility of the future. From the point of view of Continental, the internet actually improves the vehicle because real-time communication among road users with other vehicles and the infrastructure enhances safety, comfort, and efficiency on the roads.”

While Markus Borchert, Senior Vice President, Market Europe, Nokia Networks added, “We are convinced that intelligent mobile network technology can help to ensure that the number of traffic accidents will decrease in the future and that driving will be safer. Mobile Edge Computing as the technological core of our project brings cloud computing to the road, accelerates the communication between drivers and vehicles and provides the blueprint for the development of 5G networks. The success of the project honored with this award strengthens our strong belief that mobile technology is an important element for safe and connected driving.”

And Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rudi Knorr, director of the Fraunhofer ESK institute said, “An important step into the future of digital mobility is the ability to link physical vehicles with the digital data environment, which offers new opportunities and challenges. The next step now is to realize new application scenarios for networked driving thanks to seamless and reliable communication concepts over longer sections of the Autobahn. This award for our project is testament to successful collaboration between companies in the telecommunications, automotive, and IT sectors with the support of applied research conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute.”

Partnership set to continue on upcoming project

With a follow-up project focusing on vehicle networking, Continental, Deutsche Telekom, Fraunhofer ESK, Nokia, and, for the first time, the management and IT-consultancy MHP – A Porsche Company – are planning to continue this award-winning partnership.

Olaf Kleindienst, Associated Partner at MHP: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring our many years of experience in the automotive industry to the table in order to expand the market for networked and intelligent mobility and develop initial business models.” Under the title “Road Safety Applications Based on Vehicle Communication via LTE and Mobile-Edge Computing (MEC)”, the project partners are aiming to draft, develop and test further applications on the already established A9 Autobahn test track in order to contribute the positioning of Germany as a pioneer and market leader in the field of intelligent mobility and automated driving.

Continental develops intelligent technologies for transporting people and their goods. As a reliable partner, the international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer, and industrial partner provides sustainable, safe, comfortable, individual, and affordable solutions.

In 2015, the corporation generated preliminary sales of approximately €39.2 billion with its five divisions, Chassis & Safety, Interior, Powertrain, Tires, and ContiTech. Continental employs more than 208,000 people in 53 countries.

Information management in and beyond the vehicle is at the very heart of the Interior division. The product portfolio for different types of vehicles includes: instrument clusters, multifunctional and head-up displays, control units, access control and tire-information systems, radios, infotainment systems, input devices, control panels, climate control units, software, cockpits as well as services and solutions for telematics and Intelligent Transportation Systems.

The Interior division employs more than 36,000 people worldwide and generated sales of approximately €7 billion in 2014.