For the first time, Cisco’s intelligent networking technology was utilised to remotely operate a full-sized electric-powered race vehicle around a circuit at 200 kph.
The historic journey took place on September 2nd, 2021, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, in collaboration with DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) – the German touring car championship – Schaeffler and Riedel Networks. The DTM Electric Demo car was raced without a driver around the 4,326 metre long course. Instead, DTM Trophy champion Tim Heinemann piloted the racecar from a state-of-the-art simulator in Graz, 82 kilometres away.
“The hugely successful remotely controlled run of the DTM Electric Demo car around the Red Bull Ring thrilled those in attendance onrace day. Critical to the success of the run was the speed and reliability of Cisco’s networking technology which enabled signals carrying video, communications and remote car controls to be transmitted at close to the speed of light with the highest possible reliability. Cisco is delighted to have been part of this event as it showcases that the technology has now matured enough to make electric-powered, autonomous and remotely-controlled vehicles a reality,” said Reem Asaad, Vice President, Cisco Middle East and Africa.
This advanced full-sized electric car was constructed by DTM technicians in collaboration with project leader Schaeffer, unlike little radio-controlled vehicle toys. Riedel Networks planned and built the communication network, while Cisco provided the technology.
Attempting to securely drive a full-sized remotely connected and controlled race car around a circuit had never been done before, thus a responsive and secure connection was required.
Riedel Networks designed and built the car’s communications architecture to allow it to be operated using Cisco Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) and the Catalyst 8300 Edge platform for the principal connection via a direct fibre over MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) link. Because it is a fast and exceptionally stable link, some Cisco customers use it to run specific applications in their Cisco SD-WAN architecture over MPLS.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms have a multicore architecture and strong hardware-accelerated encryption capabilities, resulting in a secure, high-performance, and dependable connection. This technology was important in delivering carrier-grade (99,999 percent) data transmission between the car and the remote driving simulator, which was necessary.
In the unlikely event that the MPLS link failed, the architecture was also built with a redundant backup in place. The link can be maintained through a built-in 5G connection using Cisco’s Catalyst Cellular Gateways. Under these conditions, 5G over SD-WAN will become the primary data carrier with multi giga bit connectivity at up to 3.3Gbps.
The Riedel network enabled video feeds from the car to the driver and from the driver to the pitman at the racetrack, allowing for remote steering. Intercom conversations are also available over the network.
The success of Cisco’s SD-WAN technology is demonstrated by the success of the remotely piloted car. This gives you the freedom to utilise any mix of transport providers to securely link people to data and applications in any place while providing an optimal experience.
