(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/Joe_Potato)
During rush hour we expect road traffic to slow and cars to creep toward their destinations. As vehicles become connected to mobile networks, however, the virtual highways they rely on could also slow dramatically unless mobile operators prepare in advance.
An independent study by Machina Research highlights the challenges connected cars pose for mobile operators, predicting a 97% rise in data traffic over the next decade. These vehicles create traffic patterns that differ from smartphones and tablets, placing unique demands on network planning and optimization.
“Connected cars, like other M2M devices, don’t behave like smartphones,” said Matt Hatton, founder and CEO of Machina Research. “They represent a very diverse set of challenges to operators through highly varying network traffic patterns at different times of the day.”
Machina Research forecasts that global connections from connected cars will grow from 250 million in 2014 to more than 2.3 billion by 2024. Although this represents dramatic growth, M2M devices overall are expected to account for only about four percent of total network traffic. The concern for operators is not total volume alone, but how traffic concentrates in specific places and times.
“In terms of overall data volumes, connected cars don’t present much of a problem. But network resource management is not based on total traffic volume, it’s based on particular cell sites during peak times of network use,” Hatton explained. “If connected cars regularly cause network traffic spikes in a particular location that can’t be met, there are implications for operators in meeting SLAs and delivering a positive quality of experience.”
To address the influx of connected car traffic, Machina Research identifies five priority areas mobile network operators (MNOs) should focus on:
- Support multiple network types and manage interoperability between technologies such as cellular, Wi‑Fi, and LPWA networks to ensure seamless connectivity across environments.
- Adopt flexible network management and RAN optimization that can handle varied and time‑dependent demand from different device types, balancing capacity and quality of service effectively.
- Invest in comprehensive planning tools capable of forecasting where future demand will emerge, taking into account the diverse range of M2M devices and their distinct usage profiles.
- Manage individual device requirements to prevent newly added devices from degrading overall network performance. Implementing certification processes can help ensure devices conform to expected behaviors and limits.
- Consider spectrum re-farming carefully with attention to large deployments of M2M devices in hard-to-reach areas and the long lifespans of those installations, ensuring future capacity and coverage needs are met.
Steve Bowker, VP of Technology and Strategy at TEOCO, emphasized that the connected car is only one of many M2M applications that will place novel demands on mobile networks. “In all cases, operators will need to identify where and when the network traffic is generated, measure the volume, and analyze the type of traffic as well,” he said. “They’ll need to more seriously consider how to cope with these demands for reduced latency, higher bandwidth, more signaling and higher QoS. This requires a more sophisticated and comprehensive approach to mobile network planning.”
As connected vehicles proliferate, operators face the challenge of maintaining service quality during concentrated peaks of demand. Addressing this requires improved forecasting, dynamic network management, and coordinated spectrum strategy to ensure both current and future mobility services deliver reliable performance.
Do you think some mobile networks will struggle to handle connected cars? Share your thoughts in the comments.