Automaker blazes big trail in sector's future development

Thanks to the group's strong capacity for innovation, BMW is systematically forging ahead with connectivity and digitalization in all areas, as the two fields are the most dominant in the radical transformation of the future of mobility.

The German automaker is blazing a trail for intelligent vehicle connectivity and exploiting the potential of digitalization, in line with its corporate initiative, named Strategy Number One > Next.

BMW's strategy of systematically advancing vehicle connectivity, combined with its investment in backend architecture work together to play a vital role in shaping the future landscape of mobility.

In the future, autonomous vehicles must be fully-connected for real-time cloud computing and information exchange, and so automakers are turning mobile networks into a high-speed information highway.

BMW is to strengthen its leading status in the technological transition driving forward what it calls the ACES - autonomous, connected, electrified, services and shared.

There are currently intelligently connected vehicles from the group in 46 markets worldwide. Advanced technologies in the fields such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence are employed for this, along with state-of-the-art development processes for efficiently creating new services and optimizing existing functions.

With BMW ConnectedDrive, the company has been a pioneer in intelligent connectivity and the use of online-based in-car services for a long time now. The vehicle's built-in SIM card is the key to connected, comfortable motoring. BMW has already completed the groundwork with more than 10 million of its vehicles from series production fitted with embedded SIM cards, one of the most among automakers.

By creating a secure and permanently available backend environment, BMW is making the most of the potential offered by mobile data transfers.

The secure mobile connection makes it possible to transmit live information to the vehicle and both receive and send data from the car to the IT backend over the air.

The forthcoming fifth-generation mobile network will be more powerful than ever, as a result the 5G technology opens up new possibilities for vehicle connectivity. Sharing the data required for autonomous driving is only possible with the necessary speed and reliability using the new 5G information highway.

The data rates that 5G can achieve will take the quality of in-car online entertainment to a whole new level, while connectivity between vehicles and transport infrastructure can also be stepped up in this way.

BMW is developing technologies and systems that harness this potential now, so that it can start to offer 5G-based functions in production vehicles as early as 2020.

Intelligent connectivity is leveraged to help BMW customers drive safely and avoid accidents by providing them with information in real time.

Warnings of both weather-related hazards and broken-down vehicles have been transmitted to BMW vehicles using connectivity technology since November 2016. The range of messages sent to cars in real time is set to be further expanded this year.

The registered instances of emergency brake downs will then be used to issue even more accurate congestion reports in order to reduce the risk of collisions at the tail end of traffic jams. Requests to form emergency vehicle corridors sent out by police traffic report centers will also be transmitted to any affected BMW vehicles.

The swift and accurate processing of information on road conditions and traffic situations also provides an important basis for optimizing the operation of automated driving systems. The knowledge shared within the connected vehicle fleet supplements the data collected from sensors and cameras and therefore enhances the ability to analyze situations and anticipate what is going to happen - an essential ingredient in automated driving.

(China Daily 04/25/2018 page4)