CAR-TO-X COMMUNICATION PROVIDES EARLY WARNING OF DANGERS
When a vehicle warns the driver of a possible danger early on, it is more relaxed and safer to drive. This is where the Car-to-X Communication, which Mercedes-Benz has been offering in vehicles since 2013 and which has been standard with vehicles with navigation systems since 2016, helps. The service exchanges information between vehicles, but also between traffic information.
Car-to-X communication at Mercedes-Benz
For Car-to-X communication, Mercedes-Benz uses the vehicle both as a transmitter and as a receiver of warning messages. As soon as the vehicle's sensors have detected a dangerous situation, a warning is sent to the Mercedes-Benz cloud as a backend. The message can be triggered, for example, by activating the hazard warning lights at the end of a traffic jam, by detecting accidents and breakdowns, but also in heavy rain or if - if there is a risk of slipping - the ABS and ESP are activated. At the same time, however, the driver can also issue a warning manually if an obstacle is noticed on the route.
Passed on to Mercedes-Benz vehicles up to five kilometers away
Automatic and manual warnings are recorded together with position information in the Mercedes-Benz Cloud and passed on to all Mercedes-Benz vehicles participating in Car-to-X within a radius of up to five kilometers. As soon as another vehicle receives the message, a corresponding icon is displayed on the navigation map. When the vehicle approaches a hazard, the icon is highlighted and a voice warning warns of the hazard. This can be very useful, especially when the road is confusing. Incidentally, the transmitted data is anonymized in the Mercedes-Benz Cloud so that no conclusions can be drawn about the individual vehicle.
Incidentally, the new S-Class of the 223 series with MBUX NTG 7 can also handle hazard-specific warnings. Previously, a voice output “Warning, traffic incident ahead” was always given in front of a danger point, and the event is now more precise and describes the event as, for example, “risk of crosswind” or “accident ahead”.
Incidentally, the Car-to-X technology temporarily stores messages with information and GPS position if a Car-to-X traffic event is detected and no cellular network is available. The event is then sent to the cloud. In this way, you can also warn of traffic events that are in the dead zone.
In order to be able to use the service, the driver must first activate the service himself in order to be able to use it. This requires registration in the Mercedes me portal and approval of the terms of use for the Mercedes me connect services. At the same time, the respective vehicle must be linked to the Mercedes me account. The service can then be activated, which is possible within one year of initial registration or commissioning, whichever comes first. The service can then be used free of charge for three years. After expiry, the service can be extended through the store in the package with Live Traffic Information for a fee. The customer can deactivate the service at any time.
Other manufacturers currently still use different standards
Almost all well-known manufacturers now offer solutions for Car-to-X communication - but with different technical standards. For example, Volkswagen has started to equip the new Golf with WLANp technology as standard. This is Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), ie a WLAN standard specially developed for vehicles that only supports locally limited direct communication within a maximum radius of 800 meters. The main advantage of the technology: the very fast transmission speed.
About two decades ago, Mercedes-Benz began to work out a viable solution based on DSRC. With the increasing spread of cellular communications, however, the advantages of cellular-based technology outweighed DSRC. This includes:
- Use of existing components : data communication via mobile radio is already used in the vehicle for a large number of services. Due to the forced expansion of the network and an upgrade to LTE, hazard reports are usually transmitted from one vehicle to another in one to two seconds, even with mobile communications.
- Technology-open approach : In a technology-open approach, the data can be collected and disseminated using various communication standards. Even when using new cellular standards, such as B. 5G, the information exchange is maintained.
- Server-based approach: With the server-based approach, information is retained even when the reporting vehicle has left the danger zone. This also reaches the vehicles that only approach the danger zone afterwards.
Cross-brand solution necessary
Despite their preference for a certain technology, it is also clear to all those involved that road safety can only be sustainably improved with cross-brand solutions. In cellular-based technology, there are different approaches to sharing the data. One solution could be for the automobile manufacturers to forward their data anonymously to a service provider. This gathers the information and creates warning messages itself if there are more indications of possible dangerous situations. This approach was tested over a year in an extensive research project with numerous project partners. Together with other automobile manufacturers, data service providers and European traffic authorities, Daimler provided evidence that
The search for future solutions is already underway. The focus is always on the question of how data can be exchanged between the various car brands in such a way that all security and data protection regulations are complied with. Once the problem has been resolved, nothing should stand in the way of a widespread introduction.
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