Shift Magazine - August 2021 - 8

Q A&
T
he auto industry's first uses for
connected-car
technology have
revolved around high-definition
entertainment and, in a few cases,
software updates that enhance vehicle
performance.
Next up: a full embrace of 5G technology,
which will likely upend business,
enable automated vehicles, and perhaps
save lives. Over the past five years, the
5G Automotive Association has worked
to usher in that era. Swedish technology
giant Ericsson was a founding member
of that organization, which now includes
more than 130 companies.
Magnus Gunnarsson, head of
connected
vehicle product management at
Ericsson, has been working on transforming
5G's automotive potential into reality
since 2016.
He spoke with Deputy Mobility Editor
Pete Bigelow about Ericsson's work with
automotive partners and 5G's broad potential.
Here are edited excerpts.
8
shift * august 2021
WITH
MAGNUS GUNNARSSON
Ericsson has been working closely with
automakers since 2013. One company
executive describes how he envisions a
5G future that's around the corner
building the architecture and technology
for [Internet of Things] use cases
- devices communicating with other
devices or the cloud. This is why Ericsson
is specifically interested in the automotive
space. There is no other IoT use case that
has the same type of magnitude and complexity
as automotive.
Q: What's the big deal with the
transition from 4G to 5G? Can you
set the stage for what it means in
the auto industry?
A: Basically,
the fourth generation of
mobile networks that have become commonplace
around the world, that work has
been predominantly for person-to-person
or place-to-place use cases. In essence,
it's individuals communicating with individuals
or the Internet. With the advance
and introduction of 5G, this has changed.
We are now very much discussing and
Q: I understand the importance of
5G in putting fully autonomous cars
on the road. What is the role of 5G
in driver-assistance functions?
A: Cars are likely going to have steering
wheels for a long time, and they might
be self-driving in certain environments,
like on highways. In order to make that
happen,
cars need computing power,
whether they're connected or not. At the
same time, they'll have to rely on beyond
line-of-sight information, and have a much
higher frequency of updates. We're discussing
this with OEMs we're working
with. They are now considering that they
Shift Magazine - August 2021

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