Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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UT researchers make cars talk to each other

A small car behind an 18-wheeler has a limited perspective to what’s in front of it. UT researchers are working to remedy this by developing technology that will allow cars to see a complete picture of everything surrounding them.

This is where wireless communication in autonomous vehicles comes in. 

The Wireless Network and Communications Group, or WNCG, and the Center for Transportation Research, or CTR at UT recently partnered up to create the Situation-Aware Vehicular Engineering Systems, or SAVES, research initiative. SAVES uses the wireless expertise from WNCG and the transportation knowledge from CTR to work with wireless connectivity in vehicles. 


Robert Heath, electrical and computer engineering professor and director of SAVES, said that the automotive industry is now a strategic area for cellular communication.  

Many vehicles are already equipped with automated properties, which allow them to collect and then analyze their own data. Examples include smart sensors and machine vision technology, which allow cars to have smart cruise control and lane-keeping functions.  

“Connectivity makes all the automated aspects of driving more efficient,” Heath said. “Connectivity would increase the pool of data received by cars.”

One focus of SAVES is vehicle-to-vehicle communication. This refers to the ability of cars to share data such as their position, speed and brake status with other vehicles within a certain range. Other vehicles can then interpret this information in-house to develop multiple perspectives of the roadway situation.

 Heath said many of the projects he is working on through SAVES use millimeter wave wireless communication. According to Heath, a normal communication system sends signals in all directions, but a millimeter wave system focuses the signal to the receiver. 

“It’s like shining a flashlight on the signal,” Heath said. “As you move you, you have to adapt to where you’re pointing. The project is essentially looking at ways on how to point that beam better.”

Although dozens of companies are investing in autonomous vehicles, most of them aren’t looking into vehicle-to-vehicle communication, Heath said. 

“The reason they’re not doing communication right now is that, imagine if there are two Google vehicles in Austin. The only (cars) people they can talk to is each other. It’s not very useful,” Heath said. 

Heath added that while companies are not currently focusing on it, wireless communication is a necessary development that’ll eventually be adopted in the automobile industry. He said wireless communication can improve use of space on roadways and make driving safer.

“Think about traveling at high speeds,” Heath said. “If you’re going on a blind curve, you have to slow down a lot. If you have a lot of vehicles, they all have to slow down. Whereas if you have communication from cars saying ‘all clear,’ you can go very quickly. ”

SAVES is sponsored by Toyota, Huawei and National Instruments. Heath said the three companies are interested in technology developments within wireless communication.

“I think cars are going to have to communicate eventually,” Heath said. “I don’t think self-driving is really viable without communication.”

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UT researchers make cars talk to each other