Japan’s largest operator NTT Docomo is collaborating with DeNA to jointly trial a ‘5G’ system that can remotely monitor self-driving vehicles and offer assistance to passengers.

DeNA is a developer of a broad range of mobile and online services for the gaming, e-commerce, entertainment, healthcare and automotive sectors.

The trial will connect a self-driving vehicle and a remote centre via a pre-standard 5G network that aims to deliver data rates of more than 10Gb/s. High-resolution video images captured with high-definition cameras mounted on the vehicle will be transferred in real time, allowing the centre to check for any driving irregularities and provide passengers with assistance as required.

DeNA’s driverless bus will be used to demonstrate the transmission of live video from the vehicle.

The trial will be conducted during the operator’s R&D Open House at its R&D centre in the Yokosuka Research Park near Yokohama on 17 and 18 November.

Docomo is investing heavily in 4G LTE and future 5G systems for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. DeNA is developing transportation services that use self-driving and advanced infrastructure technologies. DeNA is headquartered in Tokyo and has more than 2,000 employees.

Last month Vodafone Group announced it was trialling new technology for vehicle-to-vehicle communication (called LTE-V2X), with the goal of improving road safety and efficiency.

Vodafone became the first operator to join the recently launched 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), teaming with a host of telecoms players and car manufacturers to develop connected and automotive driving solutions.

Earlier this month South Korea’s SK Telecom was the first Asian operator to become a member of the group.