BMW presents the Vehicular CrowdCell at the Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona. Mobile femtocells help to optimize future mobile radio networks.

Munich. At this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (22 – 25
February 2016) – which stands alongside the IFA in Berlin as Europe’s
most important mobile communications show – the BMW Group is unveiling
the research project “Vehicular CrowdCell”. This project extends the
concept of the “Vehicular Small Cell” presented last year in
Barcelona. While the “Vehicular Small Cell” is a mobile femtocell that
optimises the mobile radio reception inside vehicles, it is now also
capable to enhance the capacity and coverage of mobile radio networks.
The BMW Group is teaming up with peiker and Nash Technologies to
present a prototype of the “Vehicular CrowdCell” integrated into a BMW
research vehicle.

The rapid growth of mobile data traffic, e.g. due to the increasing
use of multi-media services such as music or video streaming with
mobile devices, requires even more powerful mobile radio networks in
the future. One strategy to increase the capacity and coverage of
future networks is the integration of a large number of small cells
and relays in addition to the existing base stations.

In 2015 the BMW Group, together with its partners peiker and
Nash Technologies, presented the world’s first mobile femtocell in a
vehicle. The “Vehicular Small Cell” optimises the reception available
to mobile devices inside vehicles via the vehicle’s aerial. Now the
concept has been extended to create the “Vehicular CrowdCell”. Based
on data traffic and coverage demands, the mobile femtocells are
dynamically activated to locally enhance mobile radio networks.

The benefits of Vehicular CrowdCells in
practice.
One possible application of “Vehicular
CrowdCells” are car-sharing fleets – in particular with electric
vehicles. Here, a large number of vehicles spread over cities and
regions could serve as local radio relays when parked. If one or more
users are located close to a mobile femtocell, it is activated on
demand in order to increase the bandwidth or provide additional
network coverage. In such a way, the performance of the existing
network can be dynamically optimized. Benefits for mobile phone users
in hotspots include a higher data rate and the absence of reception
white spots – especially in areas where the signal coverage is low.

“The “Vehicular Small Cell” will optimise in-vehicle connectivity of
mobile devices for our customers,” explains Dr. Peter Fertl, project
manager at the BMW Group. “At the same time, the integration into a
network of “Vehicular CrowdCells” will enable the ubiquitous and
seamless availability of high-quality mobile radio connections outside
the vehicle as well.”

The BMW Group has long been one of the world’s leading carmakers when
it comes to the connectivity of drivers, their vehicles and the
outside world. The company has been working continuously on the
development of pioneering digital services alongside its innovative
BMW ConnectedDrive services. The research project “Vehicular
CrowdCell” lays the foundations for improving connectivity inside the
vehicle and beyond.