Infrastructure-based digital maps for connected autonomous vehicles

One major key to autonomous driving is reliable knowledge about the vehicle's surroundings. In complex situations like urban intersections, the vehicle's on-board sensors are often unable to detect and classify all features of the environment. Therefore, high-precision digital maps are widely used to provide the vehicle with additional information. In this article, we introduce a system which makes use of a mobile edge computing architecture (MEC) for computing digital maps on infrastructure-based, distributed computers. In cooperation with the mobile network operator Vodafone an LTE test field is implemented at the Aldenhoven Testing Center (ATC). The proving ground thus combines an urban crossing with the MEC capabilities of the LTE test field so that the developed methods can be tested in a realistic scenario. In the near future the LTE test field will be equipped with the new 5G mobile standard allowing for fast and reliable exchange of map and sensor data between vehicles and infrastructure.