GPS World

Tag: CES 2020

  • US Department of Transportation updates guidelines on autonomous vehicles

    US Department of Transportation updates guidelines on autonomous vehicles

    Image: USDOT
    Image: USDOT

    The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday released updated guidelines for autonomous vehicles.

    “Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies: Automated Vehicles 4.0” (AV 4.0) was announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao in a keynote speech at CES 2020 in Las Vegas.

    AV 4.0 unifies efforts in automated vehicles across 38 federal departments, independent agencies, commissions and executive offices, providing high-level guidance to state and local governments, innovators and stakeholders on the U.S. government’s approach toward autonomous vehicles.

    “AV 4.0 will ensure American leadership in AV technology development and integration by providing unified guidance for the first time across the federal government for innovators and stakeholders,” Chao said.

    AV 4.0 establishes federal principles for the development and integration of automated vehicles, consisting of three core focus areas: prioritize safety and security, promote innovation, and ensure a consistent regulatory approach.

    It also outlines ongoing administration efforts supporting autonomous vehicle technology growth and leadership, as well as opportunities for collaboration including federal investments in the sector and resources for innovators, researchers and the public.

    “AV 4.0 brings all of the important work happening on automated vehicle technologies across the federal government under one unified approach. The federal principles released today help foster an environment for innovators to advance safe AV technologies, and put the U.S. in a position of continued leadership in the future of transportation,” said U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios.

    The USDOT is preparing for emerging technologies by engaging with new technologies to address legitimate public concerns about safety, security and privacy without hampering innovation, the department said in a press release.

    With the release of “Automated Driving Systems 2.0: A Vision for Safety” (ADS 2.0) in September 2017, the USDOT provided voluntary guidance to industry, as well as technical assistance and best practices to states, offering a path forward for the safe testing and integration of Automated Driving Systems.

    In October 2018, “Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0” (AV 3.0) introduced guiding principles for autonomous vehicle innovation for all surface transportation modes, and described the USDOT’s strategy to address existing barriers to potential safety benefits and progress.

    “AV 4.0 builds on these efforts by presenting a unifying posture to inform collaborative efforts in automated vehicles for all stakeholders and outlines past and current federal government efforts to ensure the United States leads the world in AV technology development and integration while prioritizing safety, security, and privacy and safeguarding the freedoms enjoyed by Americans,” the press release stated.

    AV 4.0 will be published in the Federal Register for public review and comment. More information on the USDOT’s work on automated vehicles can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/av/4.

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride platform designed for autonomous vehicles

    Qualcomm Technologies unveiled at CES 2020 its newest addition to the company’s portfolio of automotive products — the Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride Platform.

    Snapdragon Ride is an advanced, scalable and open autonomous driving solution consisting of the family of Snapdragon Ride Safety system-on-chips (SoCs), Snapdragon Ride Safety Accelerator and Snapdragon Ride Autonomous Stack.

    CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show, is taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas.

    Snapdragon Ride aims to address the complexity of autonomous driving and ADAS by leveraging its high-performance, power-efficient hardware, industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and pioneering autonomous driving stack to deliver a comprehensive, cost and energy efficient systems solution.

    The unique combination of Snapdragon Ride SoCs, accelerator and autonomous stack offers automakers a scalable solution designed to support three industry segments of autonomous systems, namely L1/L2 Active Safety ADAS for vehicles that include automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and lane keeping assist functions; L2+ Convenience ADAS for vehicles featuring Automated Highway Driving, Self-Parking and Urban Driving in Stop-and-Go traffic; and L4/L5 Fully Autonomous Driving for autonomous urban driving, robo-taxis and robo-logistics.

    The Snapdragon Ride Platform, based on the Snapdragon family of automotive SoCs and accelerator, is built on scalable and modular heterogeneous high-performance multi-core CPUs, energy efficient AI and computer vision (CV) engines, industry-leading GPU.

    The platform with combination of SoCs and accelerator can be used as needed to address every market segment offering industry-leading thermal efficiency, from 30 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) for L1/L2 applications to over 700 TOPS at 130W for L4/L5 driving.

    The platform can therefore result in designs that can be passively or air-cooled, thereby reducing cost, and increasing reliability, avoiding the need for expensive liquid cooled systems and allowing for simpler vehicle designs, and extending the driving range for electric vehicles. The Snapdragon Ride SoCs and accelerator are designed for functional safety ASIL-D systems.

    Snapdragon Ride is expected to be available for pre-development to automakers and tier-1 suppliers in the first half of 2020. Qualcomm Technologies anticipates Snapdragon Ride-enabled vehicles to be in production in 2023.

    While the company believes the next wave of innovation may be in the L2+ Convenience ADAS segment, the hardware solutions utilized in Snapdragon Ride from a single system-on-chip (SoC) for an Active Safety ADAS system driven by regulatory mandates to a highly scalable architecture of multiple SoCs and dedicated autonomous driving accelerators allowing for fully autonomous self-driving systems.

    Qualcomm Technologies’ family of ADAS SoCs and accelerators are built on the fundamental approach of heterogeneous compute capabilities designed for application requirements.

    These ADAS SoCs and accelerators effectively manage a large amount of data from onboard systems, leveraging Qualcomm Technologies’ next generation AI engines; image signal processors for camera sensors; enhanced digital signal processors (DSPs) for sensor signal processing; high-performance CPUs for planning and decision making; cutting-edge GPU technology for high-end visualization and immersive user experience; dedicated safety and security subsystems across the SoC and autonomous driving accelerator.

    Through the autonomous driving accelerator, Qualcomm Technologies brings energy efficient compute capabilities to mainstream vehicles, which has so far been largely unavailable to the automotive industry due to exceptionally complex and expensive thermal solutions that are fundamentally unscalable because of their power consumption requirements.

    Snapdragon Ride Benefits

    • Proven and integrated safety board support package with safe OS and hypervisors
    • Safety frameworks from automotive industry leaders, including Adaptive AUTOSAR
    • Optimized and comprehensive foundational function libraries for computer vision, sensor signal processing, and standard arithmetic libraries
    • AI tools for improving model efficiencies, as well as optimizing runtime on heterogeneous compute units
    • Comprehensive autonomous driving stack for highway functions, such as perception and planning for highway driving functions
    • Cost-efficient localization solution with Qualcomm Vision Enhanced Precise Positioning (VEPP)
    • Hardware and Software in Loop Test environment
    • Data Management Tools for intelligent data collection and automated annotation

    Autonomous Stack

    Integrated as a part of Snapdragon Ride is Qualcomm Technologies’ new purpose-built autonomous driving software stack, a modular and scalable solution available to automotive OEM and tier-1 suppliers to accelerate their development and innovations.

    The software stack facilitates automakers’ abilities to offer increased safety and comfort to everyday driving by offering optimized software and applications for complex use cases, such as self-navigating human-like highway driving, as well as choice of modular options like perception, localization, sensor fusion and behavior planning.

    The software infrastructure for Snapdragon Ride supports customer specific stack components to be co-hosted with the Snapdragon Ride Autonomous Stack components.

    “Over the years, we have consistently demonstrated our prowess in large-scale deployment of high-performance and highly intelligent cockpit and connected car solutions that operate in power-constrained environments across virtually every class of vehicle. Today, we are pleased to be introducing our first-generation Snapdragon Ride platform, which is highly scalable, open, fully customizable and highly power optimized autonomous driving solution designed to address a range of requirements from NCAP to L2+ Highway Autopilot to Robo Taxis. Combined with our Snapdragon Ride Autonomous Stack, or an automaker or tier-1’s own algorithms, our platform aims at accelerating the deployment of high-performance autonomous driving to mass market vehicles,” said Nakul Duggal, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We’ve spent the last several years researching and developing our new autonomous platform and accompanying driving stack, identifying challenges and gathering insights from data analysis to address the complexities automakers want to solve.”

  • HERE’s new HD GNSS enables sub-meter positioning for mass market

    HERE’s new HD GNSS enables sub-meter positioning for mass market

    The company also announces that HERE Navigation On-Demand is OEM-ready with APCOA as partner

    HERE Technologies has introduced at CES 2020 its High Definition Global Navigation Satellite System (HD GNSS) positioning, a cloud-based solution that enables mass-market devices to achieve sub-meter accuracy across the globe.

    CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show, is taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. Here’s booth is at Central Plaza, Tech East.

    HD GNSS enables new user experiences with lane-level navigation, augmented and virtual reality. It combines precise point positioning (PPP) and real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning methods, allowing for fast convergence time, high availability and global coverage.

    It also supports off-the-shelf mobile devices and internet of things (IoT) trackers equipped with dual frequency chipsets such as the Broadcom BCM47765 and BCM47755.

    Photo: HERE
    Photo: HERE

    More mass-market devices and vehicles are being equipped with dual-frequency GNSS receivers. With the HD GNSS service, the receivers enable high-precision positioning, HERE said, a capability that was cost and geographically prohibitive less than two years ago.

    HERE HD GNSS accelerates chipset, hardware and software makers’ ability to offer a step change in what can be delivered to consumers in new product capabilities, features and user experiences, the company said.

    HERE HD GNSS data delivery is optimized for mobile devices, requires no additional hardware and comes equipped with spoofing detection and phone sensor integration. It provides global coverage (including China and Japan), with single-frequency mobile device support in the future.

    HERE is also working across a partner ecosystem — including reference station operators, chipset manufacturers, module makers, hardware vendors, mobile network operators and system integrators — to jointly improve the positioning accuracy to centimeter levels, and in more challenging environments such as urban canyons.

    Automotive use cases

    Autonomous driving. For safety, it’s critical that automated vehicles are designed with high levels of redundancy in positioning systems. If an automated vehicle gets caught in bad weather conditions which are degrading optical sensor operations, <0.2m positioning accuracy available via HD GNSS increases safety and operation time in autonomous mode.

    Assisted driving. In case of an obstacle on the road, HD GNSS combined with HERE HD maps provide obstacle indication and avoidance functionality.

    Mobile device use cases

    Road lane guidance and improved ETAs on mobile devices. If a driver is unfamiliar with the roadway, HERE HD GNSS, combined with precision HERE map data, shows the driver the correct lane and path to navigate to the destination fast and safely.

    Improved gaming and augmented reality experience. Location-based games are growing and widely popular, however they currently rely on less accurate positioning technologies that inhibit next generation use cases. HERE HD GNSS bring exciting opportunities to design the next version of games with sub-meter positional accuracy.

    HERE Navigation On-Demand is OEM-ready with APCOA as partner

    HERE Navigation On-Demand is now available for integration in OEM infotainment programs. APCOA Parking is the first non-automotive company to use the Service Package SDK to make its parking services available on HERE Navigation On-Demand.

    HERE Technologies’ software-as-a-service solution HERE Navigation On-Demand is available for integration in OEM infotainment programs. With HERE Navigation On-Demand, OEMs and Tier 1 vendors get to deliver both connected services and expandable navigation experiences on both embedded and mobile platforms.

    The connected solution cuts development and lifecycle costs by offering cutting-edge, off-the-shelf functionalities while enabling OEMs and Tier 1 vendors to use an SDK to build their own features or integrate third party services.

    As a software-as-a-service offering, HERE Navigation On-Demand enables OEMs to remotely configure and monitor the deployed navigation solution making it possible to update and upgrade the experience anytime, even after the sale of the vehicle.

    OEMs can further offer any functionality as a subscription option and thus generate new, recurring revenue streams. The end-user accesses the navigation experience through client software which downloads the Service Packages from the cloud.

    The highly modular Service Packages include map data, software features, UX elements and references to Cloud Service APIs. Smart caching of these Service Packages ensures that HERE Navigation On-Demand also works offline.

    Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, is pre-integrated into HERE Navigation On-Demand, making it faster and easier for automakers to deliver an intuitive, voice-first navigation experience to customers in the car.

  • Swift Navigation kicks off 2020 with precision and partnerships

    Swift Navigation kicks off 2020 with precision and partnerships

    logoSwift ​​Navigation​, ​​a firm specializing in GNSS positioning technology for autonomous vehicles, looks back on a year of progress in 2019 and forward to what’s ahead in 2020.

    2019 highlights include the expansion of operations to Australia, continued Firmware Releases to improve Swift’s multi-band, multi-constellation GNSS receivers, the expansion of Skylark cloud corrections service across the United States and announcing a partnership with Arm to bring precise positioning technology to autonomous vehicle compute platforms.

    While Swift is proud of these accomplishments, the company is most excited about its shift from a company providing RTK GNSS receivers to one that provides a full ecosystem of precise positioning GNSS solutions for autonomous and mass-market applications.

    Swift has made it possible for customers and partners alike to incorporate Swift’s patented technology into a multitude of autonomous platforms.

    From the receiver-agnostic Starling positioning engine that enables the accuracy of Swift GNSS receivers and opens it up for industry use, to cloud-based corrections delivered nationwide with Skylark, Swift is poised to bring precise positioning to those who can benefit from centimeter-level location accuracy the most — autonomous platforms and applications.

    While Skylark and Starling work independently with many leading industry components and receivers, it is the two paired together that makes the precise positioning powerhouse that will make 2020 a pivotal year for Swift.

    At this year’s CES, the following Swift partners and customers are showcasing how they are integrating Swift’s precision positioning solutions in their platforms:

    • Arm — a global leader in semiconductor IP — utilizes Starling to deliver a high-integrity, high-accuracy GNSS positioning solution enabling automotive OEMs, as well as Tier 1 and 2 auto suppliers, to integrate precise positioning into their sensor suite. Arm is hosting meetings by appointment on Level 2 of the Venetian at Veronese 2505 and Veronese 2506.
    • STMicroelectronics — a global semiconductor leader — provides GNSS measurement engines and ASIL-rated processors for autonomous driving and high-accuracy GNSS solutions. ST has integrated Starling on the ST ASIL-rated Telemaco Platform for OEM applications. ST is hosting meetings by appointment only at their Hospitality Suites during CES 2020.
    • Aceinna — a provider of sensing solutions — announced its OpenRTK330 precise positioning module at CES. The new OpenRTK330 is based on the ST TeseoV receiver and includes three ST ASM330LHH IMUs for inertial measurements. Skylark is the preferred corrections provider for the OpenRTK330 and evaluation kits. Aceinna will be demonstrating its new module in booth 6738 in the North Hall Automotive pavilion.

    See Swift in action at the CES locations above or contact the Swift team at [email protected] to schedule a meeting.

  • Uber and Hyundai release full-scale air taxi model at CES

    Hyundai is the first Uber Elevate partner with manufacturing capabilities to mass produce Uber Air Taxis

    Uber and Hyundai Motor Company announced at CES 2020 a new partnership to develop Uber Air Taxis for a future aerial ride-share network and unveiled a full-scale aircraft concept. Hyundai is the first automotive company to join the Uber Elevate initiative, bringing automotive-scale manufacturing capability and a track record of mass-producing electric vehicles.

    CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show, is taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. Hyundai Motor’s innovative smart mobility solutions including UAM, PBV, Hub and more are showcased at Booth 5431 in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall.

    The taxi concept was created in part through Uber’s open design process, a NASA-inspired approach that jump starts innovation by publicly releasing vehicle design concepts so any company can use them to innovate their air taxi models and engineering technologies.

    In this partnership, Hyundai will produce and deploy the air vehicles, and Uber will provide airspace support services, connections to ground transportation, and customer interfaces through an aerial ride-share network. Both parties are collaborating on infrastructure concepts to support take-off and landing for this new class of vehicles.

    The SA-1 air taxi. (Photo: Uber/Hyundai)
    The SA-1 air taxi. (Photo: Uber/Hyundai)

    “Our vision of urban air mobility will transform the concept of urban transportation,” said Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Division. “We expect UAM to vitalize urban communities and provide more quality time to people. We are confident that Uber Elevate is the right partner to make this innovative product readily available to as many customers as possible.”

    “Hyundai is our first vehicle partner with experience of manufacturing passenger cars on a global scale. We believe Hyundai has the potential to build Uber Air vehicles at rates unseen in the current aerospace industry, producing high quality, reliable aircraft at high volumes to drive down passenger costs per trip. Combining Hyundai’s manufacturing muscle with Uber’s technology platform represents a giant leap forward for launching a vibrant air taxi network in the coming years,” said Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate.

    In preparation for this announcement, Hyundai worked with Uber Elevate to develop a PAV (personal air vehicle) model, S-A1, that uses innovative design processes to optimize electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for aerial ridesharing purposes. S-A1 previous eVTOL designs Uber Elevate has released in the following ways:

    • It is designed for a cruising speed up to 180 miles/hr (290 km/hr), a cruising altitude of around 1,000-2,000 feet (300 – 600 mt) above ground, and to fly trips up to 60 mile (100 km).
    • The Hyundai vehicle will be 100% electric, utilizing distributed electric propulsion and during peak hours will require about five to seven minutes for recharging.
    • Hyundai’s electric aircraft utilizes distributed electric propulsion, powering multiple rotors and propellers around the airframe to increase safety by decreasing any single point of failure. Having several, smaller rotors also reduces noise relative to large rotor helicopters with combustion engines, which is very important to cities.
    • The model is designed to take off vertically, transition to wing-borne lift in cruise, and then transition back to vertical flight to land.
    • The Hyundai vehicle will be piloted initially, but over time they will become autonomous.
    • The cabin is designed with four passenger seats, allowing riders to board and disembark easily and avoid the middle seat with enough space for a personal bag or backpack.

    Ushering in the era of seamless mobility, Hyundai’s exploration of future urban transportation incorporates the electric PAV concept with a new ground transportation, the Purpose Built Vehicle (PBV) concept.

    Hyundai’s vision for creating communities from future transit systems comes into focus with yet another new infrastructure concept, called the Hub. When many PBVs and PAVs are docked and connected to a Hub, they make a new public space where diverse groups of people can come together.

  • Aceinna drives to CES 2020 with tiny GNSS/INS module

    Aceinna drives to CES 2020 with tiny GNSS/INS module

    Photo: Aceinna
    Photo: Aceinna

    Module designed for developers creating guidance and navigation systems for autonomous vehicles, robots, drones, industrial, construction and agricultural machinery

    Aceinna launched its OpenRTK330L at CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. The company is located at Booth 6738, CES North Hall, Automotive Pavilion.

    OpenRTK330L is a low-cost,high-performance triple-band RTK/GNSS receiver with built-in triple redundant inertial sensors. Designed to replace the expensive and bulky precision RTK/INS systems used in today’s autonomous systems, the compact navigation solution meets the challenging performance, reliability and cost requirements of the automotive market along with the needs of robot, drone, construction and agriculture systems, Aceinna said.

    Demonstration Drive

    Aceinna is demonstrating its GNSS/INS-based autonomous vehicle localization technologies on its test vehicle, which drove from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas.

    The company is recording live drive-test data that demonstrates how its precision positioning solutions provide high accuracy and reliability. Precision location capability is critical for all levels of autonomous driving.

    OpenRTK330L includes a triple-band RTK/GNSS receiver coupled with redundant inertial sensor arrays to provide cm-level accuracy, enhanced reliability, and superior performance during GNSS outages.

    The OpenRTK330L integrates a precise 2 Degree/Hour IMU to offer ten to 30 seconds of high accuracy localization during full GNSS denial. This enables autonomous system developers to safely deliver highly accurate localization and position capabilities in their vehicles at prices that meet their budgets.

    Image: Aceinna
    Image: Aceinna

    OpenRTK330L’s embedded Ethernet interface allows easy and direct connection to GNSS correction networks around the world. OpenRTK330L’s CAN bus interface allows simple integration into existing vehicle architectures.

    The multi-band GNSS receiver can monitor all global constellations (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC, SBAS) and simultaneously track up to 80 channels. The module has RF and baseband support for the L1, L2 and L5 GPS bands and their international constellation signal equivalents.

    The inertial measurement unit and dead reckoning function contains a total of 9 accelerometer and 9 rate gyro channels based on Aceinna’s unique triple redundant six-axis IMU array. By integrating a triple-redundant IMU array, the OpenRTK330L is able to recognize and utilize only valid sensor data, ensuring high-accuracy protection limits and certifiability under ISO26262 standards.

    Open Navigation Platform

    “The combination of a triple-band GNSS receiver and a high-precision IMU has enabled us to make a remarkably accurate, small, reliable and cost-effective GNSS/INS solution,” said Mike Horton, CTO of Aceinna. “The OpenRTK Precise Positioning Engine optimizes satellite tracking and high RTK fixes rates while integrating seamlessly with Aceinna’s open-source, developer-friendly Open Navigation Platform.”

    The Open Navigation Platform allows custom embedded application development on top of Aceinna’s positioning engine and dead-reckoning algorithms. Autonomous solution developers have full access to all resources on the OpenRTK330L module including the GNSS receiver measurement data, IMU measurement data and all interfaces.

    The OpenRTK330L GNSS receiver supports GPS (L1 C/A, L2C and L5), GLONASS (L1OF, L2OF), BeiDou (B1I, B2I), GALILEO (E1, E5a, E5b, E6) QZSS (L1 C/A), and NAVIC. The IMU sensor array includes a triple-redundant, 3-axis MEMS angular rate sensor, and a triple-redundant, 3-axis MEMS accelerometer.

    Hardware also includes, Ethernet, UART, SPI and CAN interfaces for versatile integration into a host system. Additional specifications include operating temperature range of -40C to +85C, and qualification to standard automotive shock and vibration levels.

    Detailed information and data sheets are available.

  • Quectel automotive modules support auto industry in 5G era

    Quectel automotive modules support auto industry in 5G era

    Quectel Wireless Solutions, a global supplier of cellular and GNSS modules, debuted at CES 2020 a series of communication modules targeting the 5G connected car sector.

    CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show, is taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. The three new modules are showcased at Quectel’s booth No. 2601.

    Quectel’s new automotive-grade modules include the AG550Q, a new 5G New Radio (5G NR) Sub-6GHz module, the AG215S automotive EAP module, dedicated for C-V2X scenarios, and the AF50T Wi-Fi module.

    All three modules are based on the Qualcomm Automotive Wireless Solutions from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated. They are designed to provide multi-gigabit cloud connectivity, improved location services, and enhanced security to support the increasing requirements of connected car and autonomous driving use cases.

    Image: Quectel
    Image: Quectel

    The AG550Q 5G NR module, supporting both NSA and SA modes, is based on the AEC-Q100 qualified Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive 5G Platform. The module is compliant with IATF 16949 requirements, and follows automotive quality processes such as APQP and PPAP to address the demanding requirements of automotive devices.

    Adopting the 3GPP Rel. 15 technology, the AG550Q supports high speeds and ultra-low latency to facilitate better security and quality-of-service for mission-critical services. The multimode 5G NR module is backward compatible with existing 4G, 3G and 2G technologies. This ensures that cars will remain connected regardless of where they travel within the network.

    Supporting optional C-V2X PC5 direct communications, AG550Q provides superior performance in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-roadside infrastructure (V2I) communications for improved traffic efficiency and safety. Furthermore, the module supports optional Dual SIM Dual Activation (DSDA), which allows car and driver each to choose their own independent network operator subscription in order to support a variety of emerging mobility service models.

    Additionally, the highly-integrated AG550Q module supports multi-constellation and multi-frequency GNSS (L1/L2/L5), as well as optional Qualcomm Dead Reckoning (QDR) 3.0 technology which provides quick and highly accurate location positioning. The module will be commonly found in telematics boxes (T-Box), telematics control units (TCU), advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), C-V2X (V2V, V2I, V2P) systems, on-board units (OBU), roadside units (RSU), and other automotive/traffic systems.

    Quectel AG550Q module offers powerful cyber-security features, which include firmware secure boot, Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), network firewall, SELinux strong access control, TLS/SSL security protocols and more.

    “We are proud to deliver global OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers the most advanced wireless connectivity available, which allow them to integrate the latest 5G technology into their next-generation car designs,” said Min Wang, vice general manager of Quectel. “Leveraging our relationship with Qualcomm Technologies and its cutting-edge chipsets, we have been able to offer auto customers secure and reliable connected car solutions. Our complete automotive portfolio ranging from LTE, C-V2X to 5G and Wi-Fi can satisfy the continuity of automakers’ future product planning.”

    “As the automotive industry accelerates its adoption of cellular-based communications technology, our priority is to work with innovative partners like Quectel Wireless Solutions to meet the needs of the automotive industry as it delivers on the promises of automated mobility,” said Matt Eichenberger, senior director, business development, Qualcomm Technologies. “The hallmark of our work with partners is to engineer highly scalable cellular technology-based platform that enable automakers to reimagine the speed of innovation. This translates to more connected experiences and improved vehicle safety, as more cars are capable of communicating not only with the cloud but also with other vehicles, pedestrians and transportation infrastructure.”

    Besides AG550Q, Quectel also unveiled an automotive EAP module AG215S at the show, which is dedicated to C-V2X applications, and features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 2150 platform. The module integrates powerful application processor to host an ITS stack and applications. Along with having a hardware crypto engine embedded to fulfill powerful ECDSA verification capability (with support for up to 2500 verifications/sec). AG215S supports the global, U.S., EU and China National Security Algorithm, which can greatly boost security in vehicle communications. Quectel will also provide the reference design platform with full functionality (Application Processor + Modem + Connectivity + GNSS + SW SDKs), for customers and application developers.

    The Quectel AF50T Wi-Fi module targets the connected car sector and supports Wi-Fi 2.4GHz + 5GHz & BT 5.1, and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax standards.

    The AG550Q module is in the engineering sample stage, with the evaluation board available to reduce development time for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. The AG215S module will be sampling starting January 2020.

  • Hexagon features smart autonomous solutions at CES 2020

    Hexagon features smart autonomous solutions at CES 2020

    Hexagon AB, a global leader in sensor, software and autonomous solutions, introduced its Smart Autonomous Mobility solutions portfolio today at CES 2020, bringing together all the necessary sensors, software and services to make autonomous driving possible.

    CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show, is taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. Hexagon’s Smart Autonomous Mobility solutions portfolio will be demonstrated in Hexagon’s pavilion CP-15.

    Hexagon said it is on a mission to enable all customers to accelerate and deploy a bold autonomous mobility vision — from research and development to advanced machine learning and simulation, to full integration and production into industry ecosystems.

    “Through our Smart Autonomous Mobility solutions portfolio, Hexagon is empowering an autonomous future that can transform ecosystems, protecting millions of lives and dramatically lowering carbon emissions,” said Ola Rollén, Hexagon president and CEO. “We are committed to providing complete technology solutions that enable our customers to build, test and put fully autonomous fleets to work safely.”

    The Smart Autonomous Mobility portfolio includes three solution sets: Enable, Accelerate and Deploy.

    Enable. Hexagon enables customers to fast-track R&D with hardware, software, and services to quickly enable autonomous driving systems across a variety of vehicle platforms and applications. From providing a turn-key automated driving research vehicle platform for field testing, integrating a customisable and assured positioning engine with reliable correction services, and offering baseline simulation tools and high-accuracy ground truth, Hexagon has already enabled thousands of customers worldwide with these technologies.

    Accelerate. Hexagon enables customers to create Smart Digital Realities — seamless workflows between real-world and simulated environments. To drive even 20% better than a human driver requires 11 billion miles of validation, which is equivalent to 500 years of non-stop driving in the real world with a fleet of 100 cars.

    Hexagon's Smart Solutions portfolio. (Image: Hexagon)
    Hexagon’s Smart Solutions portfolio. (Image: Hexagon)

    With machine learning, simulation and testing for entire system performance and engineering and integration services, and high-definition digital reality capture, visualization and on-demand feature extraction, Hexagon allows customers to optimise, verify and validate the necessary billions of miles of driving required to safely deploy autonomous vehicles to the road.

    Deploy. Hexagon allows customers to quickly scale from prototype and R&D phases to production for any autonomous application. The automotive-grade hardware solutions, autonomy software technologies, and functionally safe positioning solutions and services available in Hexagon’s Smart Autonomous Mobility portfolio are ready to deploy at scale for:

    • Mass production of passenger vehicles
    • Neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV)
    • Tractor trailers (class 8)
    • Off-road vehicles for mining, agriculture and defense
    • Robotics, aviation, marine and space travel.
  • DeepRoute debuts autonomous vehicle tech at CES 2020

    DeepRoute debuts autonomous vehicle tech at CES 2020

    Screenshot: DeepRoute
    Screenshot: DeepRoute

    Technology includes vehicle-grade computing platform solution, high-dynamic range camera and ADS synchronization controller

    DeepRoute, an international self-driving startup and CES 2020 Innovation Award Honoree, will be debuting three innovative technologies at CES 2020 including a vehicle-grade computing platform solution, DeepRoute-Tite, high-dynamic-range camera and ADS synchronization controller.

    CES 2020, the massive annual consumer electronics show, is taking place Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas. The company will be located at Booth no. 25647 at South Hall 2 LVCC throughout the show.

    “It is an honor to be joining international innovators at CES 2020,” said Shuang Gao, Chief Operating Officer of DeepRoute. “We’ve worked hard over the last year to perfect our technologies and reinforce the safety of autonomous vehicles. We are excited to unveil the fruits of our team’s hard work, creativity and talent to the world at the prestigious and highly anticipated global technology show.”

    DeepRoute-Tite, the company’s computing platform solution that migrates the algorithm required for L4 level autonomous driving to the vehicle-level computing platform, Nvidia Xavier, significantly reducing the cost, size and power consumption down to 45 watts. DeepRoute’s computing platform solution uses Nvidia’s vehicle-specific computing platform Xavier to process L4 level autonomous driving modules such as perception, prediction, decision-making, planning and control, along with navigation.

    Along with the debut of the computing platform, DeepRoute will be launching its first-generation vehicle camera, DeepRoute-Vision. The vehicle camera has a higher dynamic range than other products on the market, allowing optimal performance even under bright sunlight or from within a dark tunnel. Designed to handle LED bulb flicker, the camera can also accurately capture information displayed on LED screens. The vehicle camera will be on display and demonstrated by DeepRoute representatives at the show.

    DeepRoute also plans to unveil its second-generation ADS Synchronization Controller, DeepRoute-Syntric. The ADS controller can synchronize information from different types of sensors, enabling the perception algorithm to process sensor data aligned in the same standard. In the event that the sensors malfunction, the ADS controller can take control of the vehicle and perform emergency tasks such as braking.

    The company recently announced the availability of DeepRoute Sense, their driving sensing solution technology which will be on display at the show alongside their Level 4 full-stack self-driving technology using a demo vehicle with an independently designed roof box equipped with 8 vehicle cameras, 3 lidars, GNSS and a series of other sensors.