Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for new V2X communication technology that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on June 30th, 2023, published on January 21st, 2025, and assigned serial number 12205471.
The Ford Authority Take
In China, Ford has been utilizing cellular based vehicle-to-everything technology (C-V2X) technology for years now, in which vehicles use wireless communication tech to “talk” and “listen” to other C-2VX equipped vehicles, people, and traffic management infrastructure. The purpose of such technology is to reduce traffic congestion and it can even help drivers avoid having to stop at red lights by maintaining a certain speed range, too. Ford has also been planning to deploy this same V2X technology in its future vehicles for some time now, as evidenced by this patent that was filed last June, but was just published this week.
This new patent filing presents us with an idea for V2X communication technology that may be used in future Ford vehicles in the U.S., but specifically for off-road parks. In that regard, the tech is designed to help manage traffic on these mostly unpaved trails, as well as help prevent accidents that can occur due to visibility issues presented by terrain changes and trail overlaps. When vehicles are operating in an off-road park with geofencing, the system could keep tabs on other vehicles and even control speed or brake vehicles in order to prevent collisions from occurring.
Of course, this patent was filed before the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) finalized its its “Saving Lives with Connectivity: A Plan to Accelerate V2X Deployment” plan, which aims to guide the implementation of vehicle-to-everything technologies. Ford previously expressed concerns over the FCC’s plan to take away some of the airwaves that were set aside for V2X communications and repurpose those spectrums for other needs, as it noted that Wi-Fi signals could interfere with them, so it’s unclear how this will impact The Blue Oval’s V2X rollout in the U.S. moving forward.
Comment
Like many IoT device architectures, the auto industry was late to the cybersecurity table for its digital communication systems. The USDOT Draft plan does include a significant focus on cybersecurity, however cybersecurity researchers have found numerous vulnerabilities (and recommended hardening suggestions) in early studies of the C-V2X protocol and its implementation.
{See: “Vehicle-to-Nothing? Securing C-V2X Against
Protocol-Aware DoS Attacks”}
I would hope that Ford (and other U.S. auto manufacturers) will develop easy to update C-V2X compliant systems and architectures which are significantly differing implementations for within China vs for outside China.