Volvo Cars and Ericsson are already looking to the future by developing intelligent media streaming for self driving cars.

As previously reported by Elite Traveler, last year saw Volvo unveil Concept 26, a driverless car which the Swedish automotive group expects to have on the streets of Gothenburg by 2017.

When Concept 26 was initially announced, Robin Page, Vice President of Interior Design at Volvo Cars claimed that autonomous drive would make watching online media during journeys possible. However the problem of bandwidth remained.





The world famous car group announced at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that they are developing its intelligent, high bandwidth streaming capabilities with Swedish technology giant Ericsson that will allow drivers and passengers to get the most out of their time while travelling with the autonomous Volvo.

“We recently unveiled our design vision for fully autonomous cars with Concept 26. Now we are actively working on future solutions to deliver the best user experience in fully autonomous mode. Imagine a highway full of autonomous cars with their occupants sitting back watching their favorite TV shows in high definition. This new way of commuting will demand new technology, and a much broader bandwidth to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience,” said Anders Tylman General Manager Volvo Monitoring & Concept Center at Volvo Car Group.

Volvo Cars and Ericsson believe that autonomous drive is set to bring about a paradigm shift to mobile net demands, increasing the need for consistent and high bandwidth coverage outside densely populated areas such as cities and suburbs. By predicting your route and looking ahead at network conditions, Volvo Cars and Ericsson believe that they are able to provide a high quality, interruption free experience while on the move, with content being able to be tailored to the duration of each trip.

“Our research shows that almost 70 per cent of all mobile data traffic will be from video in the coming years. This requires an innovative connectivity, cloud and analytics solution that is not only capable of serving multiple moving vehicles across a highway, but also has the capacity to provide the high quality, uninterrupted video service today’s consumer is accustomed to, said Claes Herlitz, ‎Head of Automotive Services at Ericsson.