Bosch, Start-Up Push “Multi-Standard” V2X, Snubbing Telcos

Greg Hyde

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6th December 2018

Bosch is partnering with a connected vehicle start-up to launch “a multi-standard approach” to vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X).

The move runs counter to telcos’ promotion of their own networks, particularly 5G, as the ideal way for a car to connect with the infrastructure and vehicles around it. Bosch board member Dr Dirk Hoheisel said the German technology giant had “developed a universal connectivity unit capable of communicating using all of the transmission standards implemented in connected automobiles” in collaboration with Mountain View CV start-up Veniam.

Bosch claimed the unit is capable of searching through the multiple connectivity systems available to a vehicle in a given environment, including wi-fi networks, cellular networks, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), automatically selecting the most suitable one, and then switching to a different one if a more suitable system becomes available. It said vehicles adopting the units are able to “reliably alert one another to accidents”, among other functions.

Bosch said they will be able to do this even if they are using different systems, thus making “V2X communication even more secure and reliable”. It also claimed the Veniam software the unit uses “closely monitors the costs and data transmission latency of each alternative connection option”. The unit’s support of the European Commission’s preferred ITS-G5 system could anger Vodafone, Ericsson, and BMW, which have been pushing cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) tech as the ideal automotive connectivity solution.