Enabling Connectivity for Automated Mobility: A Novel MQTT-based Interface Evaluated in a 5G Case Study on Edge-Cloud Lidar Object Detection

TL;DR

This paper introduces a universal MQTT-based communication interface for automated vehicles, evaluated in a 5G edge-cloud lidar detection case study, demonstrating low latency and real-time connection quality assessment.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel MQTT-based interface connecting ROS with edge-cloud systems, including real-time connection quality assessment methods, and evaluates its performance in a 5G lidar detection scenario.

Findings

Mean latency below 87 ms for sensor-to-object list transmission

Multiple approaches for connection quality assessment demonstrated

Open-source implementation available for further use

Abstract

Enabling secure and reliable high-bandwidth lowlatency connectivity between automated vehicles and external servers, intelligent infrastructure, and other road users is a central step in making fully automated driving possible. The availability of data interfaces, which allow this kind of connectivity, has the potential to distinguish artificial agents' capabilities in connected, cooperative, and automated mobility systems from the capabilities of human operators, who do not possess such interfaces. Connected agents can for example share data to build collective environment models, plan collective behavior, and learn collectively from the shared data that is centrally combined. This paper presents multiple solutions that allow connected entities to exchange data. In particular, we propose a new universal communication interface which uses the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol to connect agents running the Robot Operating System (ROS). Our work integrates methods to assess the connection quality in the form of various key performance indicators in real-time. We compare a variety of approaches that provide the connectivity necessary for the exemplary use case of edge-cloud lidar object detection in a 5G network. We show that the mean latency between the availability of vehicle-based sensor measurements and the reception of a corresponding object list from the edge-cloud is below 87 ms. All implemented solutions are made open-source and free to use. Source code is available at https://github.com/ika-rwth-aachen/ros-v2x-benchmarking-suite.