One of the most interesting – and sometimes controversial – topics in the automotive industry is the evolution of autonomous, or “self-driving”, vehicles
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can help keep us safe when driving through intelligent features like lane assist, automatic braking, and even facial recognition that recognizes when you’re tired and should take a rest. The most advanced AVs can even drive nearly independent of human assistance with “self-driving” systems.
A self-driving system is an advanced driver-assistance technology designed to enable the vehicle to navigate with minimal human intervention. Harnessing an intricate network of cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and radar or lidar, the system creates a seamless 360-degree perception of its surroundings.
The self-driving system relies on artificial intelligence and neural networks to process data from these sensors, enabling real-time decision-making for steering, accelerating, and braking. The system’s cameras feed into powerful computers that interpret the video feed to understand the vehicle's environment, identify objects, and predict the behavior of pedestrians and other vehicles.
The Rise of Data Usage in Self-Driving Vehicles
These complex self-driving systems, and the AI models that drive their behavior, are still evolving, requiring regular updates to refine their algorithms and integrate new data from the “experiences” of the larger fleet.
These updates require the transmission of large amounts of data, including diagnostics, video feeds, and sensor inputs, all of which are crucial for improving the performance of the system. All this data is collected and uploaded daily, typically overnight, while the vehicle is parked.
At AppLogic Networks, we’re seeing the volume of data in these updates increasing rapidly. Over the past six months, we’ve seen a 437% increase in upstream data traffic from AV households.
The Impact on Home Internet Plans
Many home internet plans have data caps ranging from 1 to 1.25 TB per month. If customers exceed these limits there may be additional fees for overages. This surge in data transmission can sometimes push AV owners beyond their data caps, leading to unexpected overage fees.
The average AV household is uploading somewhere between 5 to 8 GB per day, or 150 to 240 GB per month, but below is an example of a subscriber with over 2 TB of upstream usage in February alone.
Managing Your AV Data Usage
For AV owners, here are some practical tips:
- Monitor Data Usage: Regularly check your data usage through your internet service provider's tools, third-party apps, or through your vehicle.
- Adjust Settings: Adjust your AV settings to manage your data sharing settings for content and timing.
- Consider upgrading your plan with your ISP: Discuss higher data caps or unlimited plans with your internet service provider.
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Topics: Quality of Experience, App QoE, App Quality of Experience
