Photo: 5GAA

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) hosted multiple connected car demonstrations this week that demonstrated non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite connectivity. 5GAA said these demonstrations this week in Paris focused on realizing hazard warning and emergency messaging use cases in the vehicle and how NTN will complement terrestrial 4G and 5G networks in the future.

“Today, we saw real vehicles on real roads, connected through cutting-edge technologies such as satellite, 5G -V2X Direct, and commercial networks. This is the future of automotive connectivity, and it’s closer than you think,” said 5GAA Chairman Christoph Voigt.

A safety demonstration with a BMW Group vehicle used NTN connectivity from Skylo, Viasat, and Deutsche Telekom, and showed how critical information can be transmitted when terrestrial networks are unavailable. 

Another demonstration showed switching between satellite and ground-based networks while driving on public roads in Paris, with use cases like voice and assistant services over satellite connectivity. Skylo and Viasat worked with LG, Anritsu, and Cubic³.

5GAA, a cross-industry organization focused on future mobility and transportation services, released a technical report last year outlining a roadmap to incorporate satellite into the connected vehicle ecosystem, recognizing there is a “significant opportunity” to expand coverage with satellite.

According to 5GAA 2030 Roadmap, the initial market deployment of satellite connectivity in vehicles is expected by 2027, based on IoT NTN 3GPP Release 17.