Smart mobility HD-maps <-5G->V2X safety applications for Smart Cities

In the previous articles we wrote about safety applications that arise from creating full Situational Awareness/Location Awareness that come before and must exist before we move to autonomy.

The V2X OBU(On Board Unit) modem inside the vehicle has 2 main functions:

• Creating own host vehicle location based on GPS/GNSS/HD-GNSS/5G(LTE-V2X/C-V2X release 16 using 5G ground antennas which should reach ~2-3Cm localization accuracy). Using ground 5G antennas is much more accurate then using sattelites(GPS/GNSS) since calculating TOA of packets from sattelites depends of weather(clouds), while ground antennas are much closer to vehicle and don't depend on weather, in these distances.
• Sharing location for the purposes of creatinging situational awareness, integrating location awareness for vehicles/pedestrians should and must be done over a HD-map that contains lains, in order to understand and calculate path planning/trajectory of vehicles for collision detection(vehicles don't move only straight). Right now, we have only FCW-Forward Collision Warning via V2X, and radars calculating movement of objects only forward, as can be seen in this film that we created over a real HD-map in the city of Berlin in Germany:

path planning and trajcectory are calculated only by using forward movement- this is totally wrong as can be seen on movement inside junction, collision detection inside junction is flawed using current forward movement calculation, vehicles do turn according to movement inside lane since vehicles have a steering wheel, espeicially important for calculating trajectory inside junctions, during turns.

When we add lane level path planning, integrating route from point A to point B with lane level path planning like in this movement in the city of Berlin in Germany:

To create full lane level path planning that can be sent to 5G MEC to calculate all moving objects path planning/trajectory and collision detection for all moving objects using LTE-V2X/C-V2X in 1Km radius. Every change to other lane of any vehicle should create new lane level path planning that should be send to 5G/MEC via V2I(5G release 15) or directly to other vehicles via V2V, in order to create location awareness of all moving objects(in any weather and without Line Of Sight) and their trajectory to get best situational awareness possible containing HD-map lanes, vehicles, pedestrians, and their trajectories.

Using lane level path planning of moving objects over lane level HD-map, brings us to this level of trajectory/path planning(real HD-map in Berlin/Germany, 3 seconds ahead, calculation of movement every 50ms, 60 points ahead), to caclulate collision detection in the right manner, which can only be achieved using HD-map lane coordinates.

Applications for safety, after we have full location awareness that came from integrating own host location inside OBU, sharing location(LTE-V2X/C-V2X) using V2V(wireless direct vehicle communication) or through V2I via 5G/MEC(creating location awareness of all moving objects and pedestrians inside MEC) are listed bellow:

• Real time Speed limitation testing of every moving object using HD-map speed limitation later: Ability to send warnings via RSU->any vehicle to warn about high speed, or via OBU->OBU through V2V for direct warnings between vehicles(creating location awareness inside every V2X enabled vehicle).
• Collision detection/Collision avoidance of moving objects using HD-map lane coordinates: Right collision detection should rely on trajectory(path) of vehicles taking into account exact lane group/lane/lane segment of every moving vehicle and calculating trjectory using HD-map lane coordinates, that can only be achieved after integrating location sharing over the HD-map. Sending full lane level path planning:

sending location in advance, during start of movement of vehicle or through continous movement of vehicle. Calculating trajectory(lane level path plan): and sending it via V2X is importnat before reaching a junction/intersection since vehicle can turn right/left or move forward in junction. We believe vehicle should send it trajectory(3 seconds ahead) all the time via V2X(direct V2V/V2I), since in any time vehicle can move to anothe lane, or when vehicle is before a junction the trajectory must be sent to undestand vehicle "intentions" beofre a junction since several lane groups that can be chosen from and even several different lanes within a lane group can be chosen from(turn right/turn left/move ahead before junction).

• Unsafe movement inside lane and between lanes: once we have full Situational Awareness of moving objects on top of a lane level HD-map, we can calculate unsafe movement- movement of vehicles not in center of lane, unsafe change of lane, change lanes to much, moving between lanes in risky manner, movement in junection to other lane in risky manner, or potential unsafe movement of any vehicle on top of the HD-map. Calculation of movement can be done inside every OBU(on every V2X enabled vehicle) if V2V direct wireless communicstion is enabled or via 5G/MEC where location awareness is done inside MEC and warnings are sent via RSU->any OBU(inside vehicle).
• Recognizing a pedestrian that starts to move from sidewalk into the lane before a collision with a moving vehicle, or moving into a junction before a collision, in any weather(fog/heavy rain/snow/no light), without seeing the pedestrian, even 800meters(1/2 a mile) away from host vehicle, in real time becomes possible using HD-map with V2X location sharing capabilites, warning on possible collision or avoiding the collision by sending warning message to crashing vehicle and pedestrian, so vehicle can slow down, and pedestrian can stop moving.

To conclude: Location Awareness can be created using MEC using 5G communication(LTE-V2X/C-V2X release 15, OBU inside vehicle equipped with a sim card), or inside any vehicles using direct V2V communication to broadcast location of host vehicle directly to all vehicles in ~1Km radius. Implications of safety integrating V2X with HD-maps(lane level map) are crucial before real autonomy of movement of vehicles is reached in order to get best understanding of surrounding around vehicle that includes lanes and multi objects(vehicles and pedestrians). This can be done only after full situational awareness in any weather and beyond line of sight is reached. In this article, several safety applications for movement are discussed using V2X location sharing on top of a lane level HD-map.