Local firm ready for 'connected cars'

SA company rolls out leading-edge anti-collision transceiver at US conference

Cars that can 'talk' to each other will begin hitting the road just two years from now, and an Australian firm is in the box seat to supply the key hardware.

Cohda Wireless, which already supplies communications hardware for 50 per cent of the vehicles taking part in connected vehicle system trials, introduced its MK4 anti-collision device at an American vehicle telematics conference last week.

Cohda, is part owned by NXP Semiconductors, an American company that supplies the multi-standard-compliant RoadLINK chipset for the MK4.

The new unit, according to Cohda, is half the size of the MK3 system it supersedes and provides a 'scalable' solution for vehicle manufacturers – and one that reduces the manufacturers' 'Bill of Materials' costs into the bargain. Cohda provides customers (the car manufacturers) with a Software Development Kit that allows the manufacturers to customise the MK4 to suit their own specific purposes.

Operationally it facilitates both Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications. V2V is the new abbreviation for what was earlier referred to as Car 2 Car, and V2I is a term for the communications stream between the car and fixed installations like traffic lights and cameras. V2V and V2I are amorphously termed 'V2X'.

“Cohda devices are clearly the most successful V2X devices in the world today,” said CEO Paul Gray in a press release issued to coincide with the conference, ' V2V & V2I USA 2013'.

“With 50 per cent of vehicles in V2X trials globally containing Cohda equipment, we are leading in this technology. For example, 1500 vehicles in the world’s largest V2V trial, the 2800-vehicle Safety Pilot trial at Ann Arbor, Michigan, contain Cohda equipment.

“The MK4 extends our well-established leadership. It is smaller, cheaper and more powerful than previous versions and, as with previous generations of Cohda products, will deliver the best outdoor performance. Cohda already licenses its technology to Tier One automobile manufacturers from the US, Europe, Japan and Korea. The MK4 positions us strongly to deliver automotive-qualified solutions for 2015.”

In brief, the MK4's RoadLINK chipset complies with both DSRC (IEEE 802.11p) and Wi-Fi (802.11abgn) wireless standards and, according to Cohda, "exchanges messages reliably across an extended range and at high speed, cutting ‘time to react’ and communicating potential hazards and safety-critical scenarios significantly faster than conventional applications."

The system can upload new data to the car from home wi-fi connections and hotspots. On the move the system can exchange vehicle location, speed and direction with other vehicles and infrastructure elements. Ultimately this is set to reduce risk on the road and keep the driver informed of traffic congestion, thus saving fuel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The company claims that the MK4 provides "best-in-class positioning, delivering lane-level accuracy in even the most challenging environments" and it's claimed to be highly secure to prevent hacking as well.

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Written byCarsales Staff

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