Finnish wireless equipment maker Nokia is teaming with SoftBank Corp. to demonstrate a non-standalone 5G network for commercially operated connected cars.
SoftBank installed non-standalone 5G networks using Nokia’s end-to-end 5G portfolio for vehicle testing at a Honda Research and Development site in Kamikawa-gun, Hokkaido, Japan. The result was what the companies claim is the world’s first deployment trial of Nokia’s 3GPP Release 15 compliant commercial-level 256 QAM high-order modulation and 4x4 MIMO radio equipment network equipment.
The project involved testing use cases including: the transmission of location information of surrounding vehicles at intersections with poor visibility; the identification and notification process for falling objects on the road; and the transmission and secondary use of high-quality 4K video and images taken from in-vehicle cameras.
The test is to see if 5G in non-standalone form will be capable of delivering the speed and capacity for cars to communicate with each other as well as road networks. Whether the cars are connected or fully autonomous, 5G will be critical to delivering the benefits of future cars, Nokia said. Nokia said this market for connected cars is projected to reach more than $225 billion in value by 2025.
“These trials demonstrate that 5G technology can be successfully, safely and efficiently utilized in the connected car market,” said John Harrington, head of Nokia Japan. “We look forward to further develop research in this exciting space and bring 5G-connected mobility solutions to the roads.”
Non-standalone 5G runs on installed 4G networks, piggybacking on the infrastructure already in place. Standalone 5G would use only 5G infrastructure in order to bring the speed, bandwidth and low latency promised by the technology.
