Manabu MIKAMI
Hitoshi YOSHINO
The fifth generation mobile communication system (5G) is designed to have new radio capabilities which will support not only conventional enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) communications but also new machine type communications such as Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency communications (URLLC) and massive Machine Type communications (mMTC). Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), including automated driving, is one of the most promising application areas of 5G since it requires both ultra-reliable and low-latency communications, and this paper worked on truck platooning with the electrical linking of two or more trucks in a convoy and the automated driving of the trailing truck(s), as a new 5G application. This paper reports on a 5G field trial towards application to truck platooning in an automotive test course environment, describing the significance and field evaluation methods, and discussing the field evaluation results.
In this field trial, considering the control and monitoring of truck platoons by Vehicular-to-Network communications via a base station, it was assumed that vehicle control messages were transmitted by URLLC in the 4.5 GHz band and that video data for monitoring the vehicles was transmitted by eMBB in the 4.5 GHz or 28 GHz band, respectively. This field trial evaluated radio propagation characteristics, communication latency, and the throughput of the over-the-air link between the base station deployed at road side and a mobile station on the automotive test course considering a highway environment in a rural area. The trial results demonstrated 5G capabilities and also clarified further studies towards complete truck platooning tests.
Truck platooning, remote monitoring and the remote operation of the platoon with 5G, possibly are expected to contribute to solving several social problems, such as CO2 emissions, traffic congestion, shortage of truck drivers, severe work environment and the cost of logistics. Since it is strongly expected that 5G will be applied to new industrial areas around the world beyond the traditional area of mobile broadband communications, this field trial for truck platooning as a concrete 5G application was a novel and pioneering activity. Moreover, from the detailed discussions in the experimental evaluation results, this paper also gives important several suggestions for base station deployment and system configurations which should be considered for the practical use of this application, and has great value as a resource and is very useful for the evolution of related research and development. Due to the novelty and usefulness described above, this paper deserves the IEICE Best Paper Award and the IEICE Paper of the Year.
