RSSHAAS Alert, a Chicago-based startup that alerts drivers of emergency vehicles, completed the first pilot of fleet cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) tests on Sprint’s 5G network in Chicago. The tests by the fleet collision prevention company achieved a 40 percent faster transmission time for alerts because of increased speeds and lower latency, with a decrease in variance of 72 percent on Sprint’s 5G network compared with Long Term Evolution (LTE), the companies said.
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Chicago is one of nine metropolitan areas where Sprint launched True Mobile 5G. From vehicle-to-vehicle communications to situational awareness for critical public locations and buildings, a wide spectrum of advanced technologies stand to benefit from the nationwide rollout of the advanced cellular network.
“With the launch of Sprint 5G in Chicago, first responders and the public-safety community, transportation, logistics and other industries now have the opportunity to tap into the potential of what 5G can bring,” said Lori Ames, Sprint central region network vice president. "5G isn’t just significantly faster than current LTE networks, it will be capable of delivering more capacity, higher reliability, greater network flexibilities and lower latencies, all of which will empower new technologies and services like HAAS Alert.”
HAAS Alert’s tests compared the transmission and reception times on the 5G network to a standard LTE network to determine how new 5G technology can directly impact first responders and public safety. The company outfitted a vehicle with a device that included both cellular chipsets, then tested the time difference between when a device alerted the HAAS Alert’s cloud-based public-safety platform and when the platform received the alert and the reciprocal.
The first LTE control test took 0.796 seconds on average to transmit from the device with a standard deviation of 0.388; using 5G, the transmission took 0.549 seconds on average with a standard deviation of 0.107. These improvements are equivalent to a 30 percent reduction in time and a 72 percent reduction in variance. In a second set of tests, the LTE control took an average of 0.387 seconds with a standard deviation of 0.388, compared with 0.232 seconds with a deviation of 0.082 for 5G. These results demonstrated a 40 percent reduction of time, as well as a 40 percent reduction in variance.
HAAS Alert provides collision prevention for first responders by alerting drivers when fleet vehicles are en route and on scene. Digital alerts are delivered via cellular networks to drivers through navigation apps and in-dash systems, providing advance warning so that they can safely identify and avoid first responders in time. The service is used by fire department, police department, municipal, maintenance and department of transportation (DOT) fleets across the country.
Traffic collisions and struck-by incidents are the deadliest threats facing emergency responders and roadside workers. These collisions cause one law enforcement officer and 23 highway workers deaths every month, six firefighters deaths every year, and one tow truck driver death every six days. In Illinois, 22 state troopers have been struck this year, leading to three deaths.
While Move Over laws are designed to protect first responders from drivers coming too close, studies show that drivers have only 2.7 seconds on average to react to avoid collisions. Lower latency on 5G networks is expected to improve driver reaction times, which can contribute to preventing avoidable collisions with first responders using digital alerting like the HAAS Alert system.
"We’re excited for the opportunity to work with Sprint to demonstrate how 5G technology can directly impact public safety,” said Cory Hohs, CEO of HAAS Alert. “2019 is one of the deadliest years on record for first responders and roadway workers, and we’re committed to doing our part to solve this problem. Our recent tests with Sprint confirm that 5G networks will make communities and first responders safer, and we look forward to offering 5G compatibility to the departments and fleets we serve nationwide."
Separately, Verizon conducted its own transportation safety tests using 5G at Mcity at the University of Michigan to advance transportation safety with autonomous vehicles tests. The tests included installing 5G-connected cameras at every intersection inside the Mcity test track to help identify traffic and pedestrian patterns to prevent collisions. While connected cars have sensors that can “talk” to each other to help avoid accidents, cameras connecting to traffic light signals can help protect people walking or biking.
If each vehicle passing through an intersection is able to relay and receive information from other vehicles and streetlight cameras, that information can be used to notify cars when lights turn red or vehicles ahead come to a sudden stop. The bandwidth, super-fast speeds and ultra-low latency of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network can provide the backbone for autonomous vehicles, helping them communicate better with other cars, traffic lights, pedestrians and emergency vehicles to avoid accidents.
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