Giuseppe Faranda CordellaCommunication technologies and the advent of the fifth mobile generation will transform cars into real “platforms”. But cybersecurity will have to be guaranteed and the debate on data privacy is also open.In a world where everything we do and think is communicated and shared in real time, and where the sharing of experiences seems to have become the most important priority, we will not be surprised to learn that even cars are organizing themselves to become “social”. Obviously in their own way and for their own purposes.
Scenarios in which vehicles exchange information with other vehicles, or interact with smart infrastructures and perhaps send messages to pedestrians and public transport, are becoming increasingly common. What is happening is that the car is becoming more and more autonomous in terms of driving, but it is also becoming more cooperative and social in terms of the information it collects and shares as it drives.
At the basis of this “social” evolution is the need to develop communication models between all the players in mobility systems, to make the world of transport of people and goods more efficient and safer. Safe travel will increasingly depend on the quality of contextual information (traffic, weather, speed of surrounding vehicles, etc.) and the speed and security with which this information is exchanged. But let’s go step by step and start from the origins of in-vehicle connectivity, which represents one of the four major trends of the automotive market: Connectivity, Autonomy, Sharing and Electrification. The Internet connection starts with mainly commercial purposes (adding services to the driver), evolves with the legislation that made emergency call mandatory and arrives to the development of the so-called V2X (Vehicle to Everything). Under the hat of V2X we find all the possible declinations of vehicular connectivity, including, for example, V2V (vehicle to vehicle) and V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure).
In modern vehicles, in parallel with the evolution of on-board architectures, there is a rapid integration of connection technologies towards the outside of the vehicle. This happens, similarly to other industrial sectors, through the introduction of long- and short-range wireless networks. It is precisely by relying on these technologies that V2X and all its applications are developed. Considering that V2X communications require a very low latency of messages and high reliability, from a technological point of view, today we refer mainly to two communications protocols: 5G and 802.11P. The first, well known, is the evolution of the mobile communications system, which starting from what is available on 3G and 4G networks, aims to become a reference in the automotive world also thanks to the introduction of “quality of service” features that help to develop applications that are highly dependent on the latency time of messages. The second, equally well known, refers to the family of IEEE 802.11 protocols that includes WiFi. The 802.11P protocol represents the specialization to the “vehicular environment” of the well-known short-range technology, and therefore introduces the support to the so-called Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS).
The debate over which technology will dominate the world of V2X communications, with admirers and lobbyists operating on both sides, is still open. The wealth of data in the car and the possibility of sharing it, both in real time and offline, represent the possibility of significantly increasing the safety and efficiency of transport, but also the possibility of developing the business of mobility services which, for many, is the new frontier of revenues for all players in the automotive supply chain and beyond. To give a few examples of the benefits linked to the world of transport safety and value-added services, let’s try to think of our traditional driving experience and how it could be improved by the use of data exchanged between vehicles. For example, it would be very useful to have real-time information about the start of braking by the vehicle in front of us in order to reduce our reaction time; it would also be very interesting to be constantly monitored in order to anticipate possible failures related to the degradation of one or more components. These and many other application cases will be enabled by the introduction of V2X in the car.
But every coin has its downside, and the downside in this case is related to data security and privacy. The evolution of V2X requires a huge effort from legislators and actors in the transport chain to ensure the confidentiality of information, the right to choose and the authenticity and integrity of the data exchanged. Imagine what could happen, in a very data-dependent driving scenario, if someone were able to send “fake” traffic information disrupting the traffic flow and increasing the risks for drivers and passengers. And here we go again with the parallelism between the social life of human beings and that of Social Cars. Communicating is important, it opens many opportunities and widens people’s perspectives. Having “socially active” cars will further increase the horizon of these perspectives, but the theme of “fake news” is also lurking here, and perhaps with even more impactful consequences than those perceived in traditional social networks. Cybersecurity, or rather the set of technological countermeasures that make it possible to guarantee the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of information, intervenes to protect the social development of vehicles. On the theme of security and on that of the choice of communication technologies, the debate is developing on V2X, an evolution that will revolutionize the world of transport and will greatly change the perception of the world of mobility.
