Oxbotica, a global leader in autonomous vehicle software, and Cisco have partnered to demonstrate how OpenRoaming can unlock the potential of fully-connected autonomous vehicle fleets, enabling the seamless and secure sharing of high-volume data while on the move.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) make 150 independent vehicle detections every second and generate up to 80GB of data per driven-hour from sensors such as LiDAR, cameras and RADAR as well as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) logs. This constant activity means amassing 1.2TB of data in a 16-hour day.
Stretched across an autonomous fleet, which could include hundreds or even thousands of vehicles in a city or region, this would produce an abundance of data beyond that which could be shared efficiently and cost-effectively using existing 4G, or emerging 5G, networks. Oxbotica has already started work on addressing this challenge with on-road trials taking place in Stratford, East London last September.
OpenRoaming offers the ability to unlock solutions to the large data transfer challenge for autonomous vehicle fleets. OpenRoaming, a Cisco-initiated federation of providers utilising standards-based wireless technology, enables devices, whether it be smartphones or AVs, to automatically connect to trusted Wi-Fi hotspots and networks without the need to enter usernames and passwords, instead using embedded credentials issued by identity providers – in this case OEMs or AV software companies.
OpenRoaming is particularly suited for connected vehicles, with opportunities for Wi-Fi hotspots to be deployed in locations such as gas stations, EV charging locations, parking structures and vehicle service centers.
Ozgur Tohumcu, CEO, Oxbotica
As part of our Universal Autonomy vision, our pioneering software already reduces the amount of data sharing that is required, allowing vehicles to operate wherever they are, with or without network connection.
Matt MacPherson, Wireless CTO, Cisco
Today's autonomous vehicles generate enormous amounts of data when they operate. The challenge is how to gather that information from the vehicle automatically and, perhaps more importantly, cost-effectively.
