Enabling automated driving by ICT infrastructure: A reference architecture

Information and communication technology (ICT) is an enabler for establishing automated vehicles (AVs) in today’s traffic systems. By providing complementary and/or redundant information via radio communication to the AV’s perception by on-board sensors, higher levels of automated driving become more comfortable, safer, or even possible without interaction by the driver, especially in complex scenarios. Additionally, communication between vehicles and/or a central service can improve the efficiency of traffic flow. This paper presents a reference architecture for such an infrastructure-based support of AVs. The architecture combines innovative concepts and technologies from different technological fields like communication, IT environment and data flows, and cyber-security and privacy. Being the basis for the EU-funded project ICT4CART, exemplary implementations of this architecture will show its power for a variety of use cases on highways and in urban areas in test sites in Austria, Germany, and Italy, including cross-border interoperability.