BMW Live demonstration C-V2X at CES 2020 | BMW i3 Urban Suite Autonomous Drive Demo

he BMW Group does not wish to restrict the groundbreaking implementation of 5G technology and its possible applications to its own models. The premium carmaker has already declared its intention to make our roads safer and more efficient for all road users with the help of 5G. On 1 July 2019, the BMW Group became the first carmaker to make its anonymised safety-related traffic data universally available for non-commercial use.

“When it comes to road safety, there are no competitors, only partners,” explains Christoph Grote, Senior Vice President Electronics BMW Group. “By sharing traffic data and implementing C-V2X vehicle connectivity, we can directly improve safety for road users everywhere.”

(C-V2X standing for Cellular Vehicular to Everything). This is because creating Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) and putting them into practice requires two types of high-speed connectivity. Firstly, safety-related traffic data has to be made available to all of a transport system’s active parties via a neutral server platform. This must be guaranteed across the industry and manufacturers, and be shared with traffic associations and relevant authorities. Secondly, all road users need to be interconnected. This is the only way to ensure they can communicate with one another directly (peer-to-peer) and in real time without having to rely on a mobile network connection.

The BMW Group has teamed up with Qualcomm Technologies at the CES to stage a live demonstration. The purpose of the demonstration is to show the enormous potential of C-V2X, in the future, to address a critical, yet less protected segment of the road population, the vulnerable road users, and to make a significant impact in reducing pedestrian accidents In the future. C-V2X technologies and platforms may be well suited to cover other vulnerable road users such as cyclists, e-scooters and motorbikes, and those already being taken advantage of by the road transportation ecosystem.