Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1066130
January/February 2019 I 13 Autonomous vehicles are expected to be commonplace by the mid-to-late 2020s. not being susceptible to the same oxygen absorption issues of 60 GHz, distances of up to three miles with an availability rating of 99.99 percent are purported using similar power levels of the 60 GHz technologies. As mentioned earlier, the unlicensed 60 GHz technology, under the same circumstances, may achieve only 300 to 400 yards. 802.15: This IEEE working group is less well-known than the 802.11 group. However, 802.15 may be touching more of a wireless designer's everyday activities than is realized. Bluetooth technology falls under 802.15, as does Zigbee. 802.15 is currently one of the major enablers for IoT, but it is short range. It still requires connectivity through 802.11ac, 802.11n wireless, or a wired connection to get back to the internet. This is, in part, what is driving the idea of 802.11ah or HaLow. Pay attention to 802.11ah, as it could replace both 802.11ac and 802.15 technologies for the smallest devices in an IoT environment. 5G: Despite ITU's best efforts to make international cellular compatibility possible, it is still difficult to travel overseas and be able to use a cell phone everywhere. ITU's IMT-2020 specifications for 5G, still in development, promise to help that problem, as well as improve performance levels to new heights. IMT-2020 is officially scheduled to be published in its entirety sometime in 2020. However, there are providers around the world launching their versions of 5G in 2018, even though it is not clear how compliant they will be to the actual specifications when published. Cellular 5G could be a single topic for an entire article. To summarize the technology's goals, 5G is supposed to provide 10 Gb/s capacity under ideal conditions with universal 100 Mb/s access (i.e., performance in high density settings) and less than 1 millisecond of latency. Testing on early 5G systems around the world in 2018 is providing very promising results. If performance goals and levels can be achieved on a full deployment to the massive cellular market, that could be a game changer for many other technologies. One area that could be impacted considerably by the progress of 5G is autonomous vehicles. The IEEE has been a pioneer in this technology far longer than the ITU, but 5G could end up the big winner. DSRC/WAVE: Autonomous vehicles are expected to be commonplace by the mid-to-late 2020s. Many semi-autonomous vehicles (Figure 5) are already driving on highways, while fully autonomous vehicles are being tested around the world. In the U.S., one line of thinking uses roadside units (RSU) and services that support vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. While traveling down the road, vehicles will have direct access to safety, navigation and traffic information that is imperceptible to the occupants of the vehicle. V2I communications is also being developed for vehicles to undergo diagnostics and monitoring while parked. The same wireless technology used for V2I while driving is also being developed for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications. Cars will begin communicating with each other and can be programmed to play nice, potentially curbing road rage for good. Another application will essentially eliminate the "slinky" effect of stop-and-go rush hours. By monitoring several aspects of traffic patterns, cars can be set to travel at a certain speed, regardless of any speed limits in the area to keep traffic moving at a consistent and smooth pace without people deciding the speed. FIGURE 5: Semi-autonomous vehicles are already on the road.