An autonomous car project, funded by the European Commission, completed a pilot that connected a range of next-generation vehicle functions using 5G. Several operators and technology vendors were involved in this pilot.

The 5G-Carmen project, coordinated by the Bruno Kessler Foundation, conducted the autonomous pilot to connect low latency, autonomous and assisted driving vehicle functions using 5G, and edge computing infrastructure deployed by Telecom Italia, Magenta, and Deutsche Telekom. The pilot was further assisted by Nokia, Qualcomm, NEC, and INWIT.

A major breakthrough from the move was not only that the pilot was conducted within each country, but also across borders from Italy to Austria and Austria to Germany. Cross-border scenarios are challenging for 5G networks but project members were able to showcase smooth service continuity for all drivers moving from one country to another, providing roaming connectivity to the users with the same level of service quality granted to users connected to their home network.

The vehicles demonstrated the ability to perform cooperative lane maneuvers and lane changes using connected, assisted, and automated driving along the 5G corridor and at the border. Data was also shared with surrounding vehicles thanks to 5G and also C-V2X direct communication. Matteo Gerosa, the 5G-CARMEN project coordinator, claims that the project represents a milestone for the evolution of connected and automated vehicles.