At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Volvo revealed that it is developing
intelligent, high bandwidth, streaming capabilities with its technology partner, Ericsson,
that will ensure drivers and passengers get the most out of their time travelling in an
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 favourite 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.
Interruption-free media streamingÂ
Autonomous drive will bring a paradigm shift to mobile net demands. Volvo and Ericsson
believe that this shift will see an increased need for consistent and high-bandwidth
coverage outside densely populated areas such as city centres and suburbs.
Utilising Ericsson's network and cloud expertise, Volvo Cars' aim is to deliver a high
quality, interruption-free experience in its cars whilst on the move. By predicting your
route and looking ahead at network conditions, content can be tailored to the duration of
each trip and intelligently buffered to deliver a high quality and uninterrupted viewing
experience.
"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.
By learning the most common routes and times of travel and understanding media
preferences, future Volvo cars will be able to provide one-click navigation and a
customised preference based list of potential media - allowing customers to choose routes
and select content tailored to the amount of autonomous time that is available during
their commute.
Personalized and optimized contentÂ
"If you want to watch the latest episode of your favourite series, the car will know
how long the journey needs to take and can optimize the route and driving control
accordingly. With autonomous drive it is no longer just a question of just getting from A
to B quickly - it's about the experience you wish to have in the car - how you wish to
spend the time you are saving. With our future autonomous drive technology we will provide
people with the freedom to choose the way they would like to commute and the content they
would like to experience," concluded Anders Tylman.
For the 2014 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 2,252
MSEK (1,919 MSEK in 2013). Revenue over the period amounted to 129,959 MSEK (122,245
MSEK). For the full year 2014, global sales reached a record 465,866 cars, an increase of
8.9 per cent versus 2013. The record sales and operating profit cleared the way for Volvo
Car Group to continue investing in its global transformation plan. Â
About Volvo Car GroupÂ
Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most
well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 465,866 in 2014 in about
100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding
(Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999,
when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was
acquired by Geely Holding.Â
As of December 2014, Volvo Cars had over 26,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head
office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in
Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company's
main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium) and Chengdu
(China), while engines are manufactured in Skovde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and
body components in Olofstrom (Sweden).Â