NTT Docomo, a Japanese telecommunications company, and DeNA, a Tokyo-based company that offers mobile and online services, have entered into an agreement to trial 5G mobile-communications system.

The new 5G system is expected to enhance the safety of self-driving vehicles through remote monitoring and passenger assistance.

As part of the trial, a vehicle and a remote center will be connected via a 5G network that features ultra-high-speed data rates beyond 10Gbps, excess capacity, extra-low latency and massive connectivity compared to existing mobile communications systems.

"The new 5G system is expected to enhance the safety of self-driving vehicles through remote monitoring and passenger assistance."

For this trial, the vehicle will be equipped with a high-resolution camera for capturing video images that will be transferred in real time via the 5G network, which will allow the center to check for any driving irregularities and provide passengers with assistance as required.

As part of this new collaboration, DOCOMO’s 5G wireless technologies will be combined with DeNA's expertise in services incorporating self-driving technologies.

DOCOMO is leading the research and development of LTE and 5G systems for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications.

DeNA is currently developing transportation services that utilise self-driving and advanced infrastructure technologies.

The trial will be conducted at the DOCOMO R&D Center in the Yokosuka Research Park near Yokohama on November 17 and 18.

DeNA's Robot Shuttle driverless bus will be used in this trial to demonstrate the transmission of live video from the bus via a 5G network.