There are several technologies that Molex is considering that will take the connected vehicle to the next level. One of them is Vehicle to Everything (V2X) technology, which enables the communication from the vehicle to other road users (V2P –Vehicle to Pedestrians), to infrastructures (V2I) or other vehicles (V2V). This technology is designed to expand the senses of the vehicle and, as a result, provide the driver with information that could not be otherwise predicted or even captured by camera or lidar systems. Molex is already delivering a V2X antenna system to the market, warning the driver about dangerous situations, e.g., black ice on the road.

The basic requirement to enable those features is to expand the technology to most vehicles and have an advanced infrastructure supporting the warnings; today, this is not the case.

Various technologies support V2X: HP-GNSS, WiFi/DSRC – wireless/C-V2X – use of IVN sensors/processors – back-office AI support. These technologies support three key elements of the V2X proposition:

• • Accurate Street View – use of different sensors like cameras, radars as well as DSRC to quickly and redundantly communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure elements nearby.
  • Accurate Vehicle Positioning – use of HP-GNSS, L-Band, and Cellular 5G communication with real-time correction services.
  • ASIL-level Real-time Correction with base stations identification of additional factors that are Impeded or Hidden (using C-V2X to communicate with a base station/satellite.)

These are essentially working to improve and maximize awareness of the vehicle within the environment around it. To avoid accidents, the biggest challenge is to have an accurate and clear awareness of what is happening on the street.

While modern vehicles already have HD map data built-in, this is insufficient for accurate positioning. The limitation of map data is that what is happening in the real-world changes from moment to moment –so you need to consider the ‘real-time context.’ The ecosystem is a dynamic environment – for example, road work information can be updated in real-time by other vehicles – and corrected for time
(anticipated time).

With the vision of zero-accidents and dramatically reducing human driving errors, Molex is looking to future technologies like the 5G network and Automotive Ethernet, developing new connectivity solutions such as Cellular-/Wifi6-/DSRC-V2X antenna systems, mmWave antennas, High Precision GNSS connectivity devices, signal transceiver and improving the efficiency and performances of the vehicle architecture.