Hillwood, Ericsson partner to advance autonomous mobility

Ericsson Routes is like a Waze for wireless cellular connectivity, providing connectivity predictions so that users can be sure they will have a consistent and reliable connection throughout the whole journey and when planning routes for autonomous vehicles. Ericsson Routes is an incubation unit within Ericsson to broaden services to the automotive industry.

Hillwood, one of the industrial and commercial real estate developers in the U.S., and Ericsson, a global enabler in telecommunications and technology partner to automakers, have a shared vision of a future where connected mobility will make transportation safer and more sustainable.

The AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ) is an unparalleled ecosystem that allows mobility visionaries full access to essential resources and partnerships to test, scale and commercialize the latest technologies. In the less than three years since the launch of the MIZ, it has quickly become one of the premier global destinations for pioneers advancing next-generation supply chain technologies, including Wing, Bell, TuSimple, Gatik, and many more.

“Partnering with Ericsson Routes and their technology leadership gives our customers world-class and cutting-edge services that will advance the mobility industry,” says Russell Laughlin, Executive Vice President of Hillwood. “This unique technology offers mobility leaders an opportunity to be at the forefront of ensuring their products have the connectivity they need to operate now and well into the future.”

“Ericsson believes that wireless cellular connectivity is essential to mobility. Companies need to know and trust that connectivity will be seamless before sending an autonomous vehicle onto the road to deliver groceries or a drone to inspect a power line. Ericsson Routes provides this insurance, and we’re excited to see it grow at the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone,” says Daniel Alexus, Head of Ericsson ONE.

Earlier this year, Ericsson Routes launched in San Francisco, Calif., providing a single integration point and a consistent prediction engine for autonomous vehicles across all their wireless service providers. The service predicts secure connectivity along a path from point A to point B with its uplink blind spot detector. By collecting and measuring connectivity data insights, Ericsson Routes’ planning capabilities also help fleet managers address connectivity questions as new deployment areas are considered.

Ericsson Routes has now expanded its service to the MIZ, making it available to the current and future leading mobility companies operating there. In addition, in partnership with Hillwood, Ericsson Routes will test and expand support for drone connectivity later this year.