Future vehicles will not only be connected, they will also be autonomous. These connected and autonomous vehicles will need an ecosystem capable of supporting new workloads and meeting real-time demands. This ecosystem will include not just the vehicles themselves and the required road infrastructure, but also a 5G network infrastructure and the supporting data network located in the cloud.
As 3GPP expanded its platform to the automotive industry, the initial V2X studies¹ focused on four communication types: V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle), V2P (Vehicle to Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure) and V2N (Vehicle to Network). Subsequently, more advanced applications have been identified in support of enhanced V2X services². These include vehicle platooning, co-operative operation and sensor sharing, remote driving and advanced driving.
Figure 1 - V2X Types
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication takes place over the PC5 reference point, which comes in two forms: LTE-based and NR-based. A device using V2X communication, such as an autonomous vehicle, may use either or both, depending on the services it supports. Direct communication will enable vehicle platooning, sensor sharing and co-operative lane changing, as well as more critical services such as collision avoidance and emergency trajectory alignment.
Vehicle-to-pedestrian communication takes place between a vehicle and one or more nearby pedestrians, either directly or via network infrastructure. It allows pedestrians to be warned of an approaching vehicle, and vehicles to be warned of vulnerable road users.
Vehicle-to-infrastructure communication connects vehicles to roadway infrastructure, ranging from traffic signals and road signs to temporary installations such as roadworks and construction zones. Vehicles exchange information with roadside units, which will enable services such as signal timing updates, speed limit notifications and hazard warnings.
Vehicle-to-network communication takes place across the Uu air interface between the vehicle and the NG-RAN. V2X communication over Uu is performed via unicast. This allows a PDU session to be established, enabling the device within an autonomous vehicle to communicate with the V2X Application Server, and vice versa. This will enable access to very high-resolution digital mapping, infotainment services such as music and video streaming, and telematics services such as traffic and weather updates.
1 3GPP TR 22.885 – Study on LTE support for V2X services
2 3GPP TR 22.886 – Study on 5G support for V2X services
Blog reviewed and updated: October 2026