Huawei gains ground in smart driving
Self-developed operating system granted highest-level safety certificate
Huawei's operating system (OS) for self-driving vehicles has been granted the ASIL-D certificate, the highest level of safety certificate in the industry, making the OS the very first in the business to have high level certificates in safety as well as in security after gaining the CCEAL5+ in September last year.
The safety certificate is compulsory for market entry in Europe, the US and in China, with strict requirements in all related aspects including planning, design, integration and configuration.
This is the technology company's latest attempt to tap further into the smart driving market. As of now, Huawei has obtained the ASIL-D certificate for its mPower, ADS and MDC smart driving platforms.
Huawei officially launched the in-vehicle module ME909T back in December 2013, and at the same time launched an investment plan for the
Internet of Vehicles, saying that it will invest hundreds of millions of yuan in research and development in the field every year, according to a report by yicai.com.
For self-driving vehicles, Huawei launched its first 5G vehicle module in April 2019, dubbed the MH5000. Soon after, the company also launched a 5G vehicle terminal T-Box platform, supporting the autonomous driving ecosystem.
As early as 2013, Huawei released products such as front-mounted mobile hotspots, online diagnostic systems for cars, and 3G and 4G communication modules that comply with vehicle regulations.
5G auto alliance
Earlier this month, Huawei also announced that it had set up an alliance with 18 companies, including major stateowned players, to build an automotive system based on 5G technology.
Members include Chinese automotive manufacturers FAW Group, Changan Automobile, Dongfeng Group and SAIC. Hong Kong-listed company BYD and ride-hailing service provider T3 Mobility are also in the union.
According to media reports, the union is expected to accelerate the commercialization of 5G technology in the automotive industry.
Huawei's advances in the market are in line with the sector's growing size in recent years. In 2018, the total number of passenger vehicles reached 57 million, with a total sales volume of $1.3 trillion, according to statistics from Statista. By
2022, the market size is expected to reach $1.5 trillion.
With the rising size of the passenger vehicle market, the 5G empowered operations system might be able to unleash further potential of the sector, especially with self-driving technology, according to Xiang Ligang, director-general of telecoms industry association Information Consumption Alliance.
“Unmanned driving needs to rely on real-time data from the machine brain and the cloud in the car to generate a large number of operations,” Xiang said, “and the data generated per hour can reach 100GB. This is impossible with 4G only. But with 5G and its high speed, the delay can be shortened.”
According to Xiang, for a period of time in the future, when driverless cars and ordinary cars coexist, on some highways or urban roads, special lanes may be specially designed for smart cars.
“Smart cars and ordinary cars can run in an orderly manner,” Xiang said. “And when driverless cars completely replace ordinary cars, the city's road planning becomes simpler because cars can automatically identify and avoid obstacles.”