Maruti Suzuki bets big on V2X communication

Hyderabad: For the first time in India, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan (SMC), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) and IIT Hyderabad (IITH) have showcased five prototype vehicles having futuristic V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication technology that could to prevent road fatalities. The first-of-its-kind use case scenarios were displayed at the IITH campus here on Wednesday.

The V2X is a vehicular communication system that supports the transfer of information from a vehicle to moving parts of the traffic system that may affect the vehicle. When used in conjunction with appropriate infrastructure, traffic rules and driver education, this technology can help reduce traffic incidents and road congestion.

Maruti Suzuki Executive Director Rahul Bharti, said: "In association with IITH, the research on V2X started in India two years ago. So far, we have customised the V2X technology based on road usage profile and heterogeneous traffic in Indian context. We will also work with the governments as well as regulatory and enforcement authorities to take this forward."

Some of the use cases identified were alert systems to the car drivers about an approaching ambulance, wrong-way driver, a pedestrian nearby, a fast-moving two-wheeler coming from a blind spot and bad road conditions. The V2X enables the car to share idle computing capacity of the microprocessor when not in use, said Tarun Aggarwal, Executive Director of Maruti Suzuki.

The use case scenarios were demonstrated to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Advisor Munisekhar Avileli, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Deputy Director General (Standardization-R&D-Innovation) Kishore Babu YGSC, DoT Director (Wireless Monitoring Organization) VJ Christopher and Telangana Principal Secretary, IT and I&C Jayesh Ranjan.

Speaking about the V2X technology, Munisekhar Avileli said: "Vehicular communication is possible even with the currently available 4G network. However, the response time is faster with the coming 5G technology. The TRAI already recommended 5G spectrum prices to Government of India and looking for its quick deployment."

On the occasion, Suzuki Motor Corporation Managing Officer Kazunobu Hori said, "The European countries are targeting to introduce V2X technology by 2025. India could be the next country to use this vehicular communication system. We are seeking the co-operation from the governments and universities here to take this research to the next level."