NXP and Cohda Unveil New V2X Device For Connected Vehicles

Building on the success of the MK3 unit, used widely in V2X trials globally, the MK4 will serve as the reference design for series-production of the first generation of connected vehicles, expected to launch in 2015. The first chipset integrated with all of NXP’s proven multi-standard software-defined radio technology, the MK4 is half the size of its predecessor and provides OEMs with a flexible, scalable solution while significantly reducing BOM costs, in line with customer requirements.

Compared with competitor solutions, the Cohda/NXP RoadLINK chipset exchanges messages reliably across an extended range and at high speed, cutting ‘time to react’ and communicating potential hazards and safety-critical scenarios significantly faster than conventional applications. Supporting both DSRC (IEEE 802.11p) and Wi-Fi (802.11abgn) wireless standards, the RoadLINK chipset can upload and access data via home wi-fi and hotspot connections.

Cohda Wireless’ “connected car” V2X technology allows cars to communicate wirelessly with each other and with traffic infrastructure, exchanging data including location, speed and direction and allowing 360-degree driver awareness to address road safety concerns, reduce collisions, warn of potential hazards, avoid traffics jams and ultimately increase driver safety, prevent traffic congestion and reduce CO2 emissions.

Cohda Wireless CEO Paul Gray said that the MK4 continued Cohda’s leadership in the connected vehicle space. “Cohda devices are clearly the most successful V2X devices in the world today,” he said. “With 50 per cent of vehicles in V2X trials globally containing Cohda equipment, we are leading in this technology. For example, 1500 vehicles in the world’s largest V2V trial, the 2800-vehicle Safety Pilot trial at Ann Arbor, Michigan, contain Cohda equipment.”

Gray continued: “The MK4 extends our well-established leadership. It is smaller, cheaper and more powerful than previous versions and, as with previous generations of Cohda products, will deliver the best outdoor performance. Cohda already licenses its technology to Tier One automobile manufacturers from the US, Europe, Japan and Korea. The MK4 positions us strongly to deliver automotive-qualified solutions for 2015.”

Cohda’s new MK4 provides the V2X industry's most flexible and scalable solution by utilising the RoadLINK chipset from NXP/Cohda, a market-ready V2X chipset with an unparalleled track record in connected vehicle trials. The RoadLINK chipset achieves the world’s best outdoor mobile performance and is the industry’s most mature V2X solution, having been first publicly demonstrated in May 2011.

“The RoadLINK chipset is setting new performance, system cost and footprint benchmarks for the connected vehicle, combining NXP’s market proven multi-standard software-defined radio technology with Cohda’s superior V2X and mobile communication algorithms,” said Torsten Lehmann, senior vice president and general manager car entertainment solutions at NXP Semiconductors. “Together with Cohda Wireless we are providing our customers with best-in-class, flexible solutions for quick mass adoption of V2X communication. Our technology will help to avoid traffic accidents, save lives and reduce CO2 emissions.” The MK4 is a complete solution incorporating Cohda's field-proven network layer, facilities layer and applications layer software products. It supports international standards including IEEE 1609 for US operation, ETSI TC-ITS for European use and the Japanese standard at 760 MHz (ARIB STD-T109). The MK4 also comes with an open and extensible Software Development Kit (SDK) that allows customers to configure and evolve Cohda applications to meet their own specific requirements. Drawing on Cohda’s unrivalled expertise in developing three previous generations that have been purchased by Tier One manufacturers and OEMs around the globe, the MK4 provides best-in-class positioning, delivering lane-level accuracy in even the most challenging environments. It also provides strong security, incorporating a hardware accelerator and tamper-proof chip to prevent unauthorised access to the system and reject “spoof” signals