The future of safe and efficient self-driving vehicles relies on the instant transmission of accurate information to avoid accidents, reduce congestion and air pollution, and improve fuel efficiency. But our current system of wireless networking isn’t adequate.

Lin Cai, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Victoria and recipient of a 2019 E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship awarded today in Ottawa, is developing what she calls an “elegant solution” to the complex challenges of creating a safe and seamless wireless network connecting vehicles, roadside infrastructure, pedestrians and the “cloud.”

From wearable devices to home appliances, advances in wireless communications and networking have seen more than 30 years of explosive growth, driving our society and economy. As the Internet-of-Things expands into the transportation sector, Cai is working to make sure we merge smoothly onto the roads of the future.

These massive vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks will need to be capable of instantly transmitting the speed, location, destination and driving conditions for every vehicle on the road at any given time. She’s designing the technology that will transmit and sort all that information for transportation systems of the future.

 

Continue reading at University of Victoria.

Image via University of Victoria.