u-blox announced its latest contribution to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology: the VERA-P3 V2X module. Based on the u-blox UBX-P3 V2X chip, VERA-P3 puts automotive OEMs, Tier-1s, and manufacturers of traffic management infrastructure on a fast track to integrating V2X technology into their platforms and solutions and deploying it commercially.

VERA-P3 communicates via the IEEE 802.11p wireless standard, referred to as dedicated short range communications (DSRC) in the U.S., also known as ITS-G5 in Europe, to connect vehicles with each other and with roadside infrastructure. By effectively seeing beyond the line of sight, V2X lets vehicles assist drivers in potentially dangerous situations, in the event of slow traffic ahead and by negotiating complex intersections. Smart cities can also benefit from vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) applications to manage traffic, from providing greenlight speed advisory, roadwork warnings and hazardous location warnings. 

Ready to meet the upcoming market demand from the automotive industry, VERA-P3 will play a crucial role in enabling truck platooning, which will be supported by the majority of trucks by 2025. VERA-P3 is ideal for other applications such as agriculture and mining, where heavy machines need to communicate with each other to synchronize their activities. 

By putting VERA-P3 as a V2X module on the market, u-blox brings its own core technology in the hands of customers in an easy and accessible manner. u-blox expertise in GNSS technology is also a key asset as satellite-based positioning is becoming more and more crucial in V2X.

“The VERA-P3 module packages the UBX-P3 chip, which has already been successfully used in trials and customer applications, into an easy-to-use module,” said Chafik Driouichi, senior product strategy manager, Short Range Product Center at u-blox. “The module reduces the overall complexity of integrating the technology, speeding up time to market, reducing costs and capital investment and future-proofing end products.”

Based entirely on u-blox core technology and leveraging the company’s long track record as a dependable partner to the automotive industry, VERA-P3 offers customers quality, reliability, and peace of mind. Qualified for operation from -40°C to +105°C, the automotive grade product complies with WAVE and ETSI ITS G5 for operation on U.S. and European territory. Customers will be able to get their hands on samples and evaluation kits starting from July, 2020.