Current and future trends in wireless enabling technologies for fully automomous cruise cars and their enhancement of road safety

摘要

Recent years have witnessed acceleration in wireless technology breakthroughs that proved to be key technology enablers of a plethora of applications that have shaped our modern society. For road safety and accident preventions, wireless technologies play a pivotal role in saving lives by assisting drivers in detecting potential collisions from blind spots and in inclement weather conditions such as thick fog or heavy rain. These wireless technologies include automotive radars for collision detections, adaptive cruise control system for autonomous cars, the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G. While the first is considered a mature technology, the others are rich research areas that promise even greater level of driver assistance, and thus an exponential decline in road accidents and a smoother traffic flow and control, with commercialization expected in the 2020-2025 timeframe. This paper presents a detailed study of the aforementioned technologies in terms of current commercial automotive solutions, relevant future research frameworks, research and commercialization timeline, overlap with other wireless technologies such as cellular communications in the context of future 5G and IoT, and underlying physics and electronics. In addition, limitations and design challenges will also be discussed. Finally, an important comparison between the number of road accidents with and without the above technologies is presented. This comparison presents a compelling evidence that wireless technologies for the automotive industry are key to the reduction of fatal road accidents and the savings of millions of human lives.