Hyundai Mobis and KT Corp. have launched 5G communication in the Hyundai Mobis proving ground in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do, and have begun to collaborate to develop connected vehicle technology by actively utilizing this network.

Source: Hyundai Mobis

KT built the infrastructure in the Seosan proving ground; Hyundai Mobis is the first Korea-based automotive parts maker to cooperate with a common carrier for development of the connected vehicle technology.

The two companies utilized the new 5G communication network to start developing the real-time navigation update technology and the Cellular Vehicle to X (C-V2X) technology. C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle to X) uses mobile communication networks to share vast amounts of data in real time with the vehicle, infrastructure, other vehicles and pedestrians. The partners plan to secure more related technologies by the end of this year.

When the traffic information collected by preceding vehicles is sent to the server, the navigation update technology reflects it on the map in real time and delivers it to vehicles. It is a core technology in the era of autonomous driving that enables safer and expedient driving by updating optimal driving routes.

The 4G network-based navigation programs currently offered by carriers and IT companies can take several minutes to dozens of minutes to update the map and recalculate routes. Using a 5G network that is 100 times faster than 4G, it is possible to reflect traffic information in real time.

To this end, Hyundai Mobis is developing a technology that collects traffic information through the various sensors of M.Billy, its autonomous vehicle, and extracts key information that affects driving, and transmits it to the server. KT supports connection between the 5G terminals in M.Billy and the 5G communication base stations.

Hyundai Mobis will oversee the control system installed in vehicles, and KT is to develop the technology that uses the traffic information server and the infrastructure to deliver Korea Expressway Corporation information, traffic light information and sharp curve warnings to vehicles.

As the connected vehicle is completed with organic connections with the outside world, inter-industry cooperation to preoccupy related technologies is active in this area. As we are working with a trustworthy partner, such as KT which retains not only world-class communication technologies, but also a high understanding of automobiles, we will be able to secure competitive connected vehicle technologies that can lead the global market.

—Jang Jae-ho, head of the Electrical & Electronics R&D Center of Hyundai Mobis