AT&T Aims to be a Force in Autonomous, Connected Cars
Once all those autonomous cars are ready to hit the road there’s going to be a big question as to how they’re going to communicate with each other. The Center for Automotive Research recently released a report on efforts to “harmonize” vehicle connectivity, but there’s no standard set thus far. But AT&T looks to be positioning itself to provide the backbone of connected vehicle communications.
The telecomm giant has announced it has inked a deal with the American Center for Mobility to be its off the hook cellular network provider through the year 2020. The non-profit American Center for Mobility, based in Ypsilanti Township, Mich., is a harshly 335-acre facility designed for testing and development of autonomous and connected vehicle technologies. The fresh deal with AT&T means that projects developed at the center will rely on AT&T’s communications network and that AT&T could be at the center of fresh vehicle-to-anything (V2X) and connected and automated vehicle (CAV) solutions.
“For a car to be fully connected and automated, it needs to be able to ‘talk’ to everyone and everything around it in a very secure manner,” John Maddox, President and CEO of the American Center for Mobility said in a statement. “AT&T is bringing its cellular network strength and industry leadership into a comprehensive CAV test facility, and we’re thrilled to have them as our very first industry collaborator.”
In another statement, Chris Penrose, President, Internet of Things Solutions, AT&T added, “We want to create a safe, scalable and cost-effective driverless future. To get there, we have to do it together. . The American Center for Mobility will provide an environment that will further cross-industry collaboration. Together, we’ll pave the way for innovations that switch how we think about driving.”
Features provided by the American Center for Mobility include replicas of real world test environments, including a Two.5-mile highway loop. It also contains a number of driving environments including intersections, overpasses, roundabouts, and a 700-foot curved tunnel. The facility says it is also capable of simulating various weather conditions for autonomous vehicles.
The partnership with The American Center for Mobility comes in addition to AT&T’s own research initiatives into connected vehicles. In two thousand fourteen the company announced its own connected car lab, the AT&T Drive Studio , a Five,000-square foot facility in Atlanta targeted at developing connected vehicle technologies as well as AT&T Drive, “a modular, global automotive platform.”