How Did Viasat and BMW Make an In-Car Satellite Voice Call?

One of life’s many frustrations is trying to have a hands-free call while driving through areas with patchy reception and/or a conspicuous lack of mobile phone masts. 

To make matters worse, Murphy’s Law combined with the lack of economic incentives for good coverage in remote areas, means that often the very time you need to make a call the most might well be when there’s a conspicuous absence of mobile signal. 

Fortunately, Viasat and its partners have been working to address this pain point. 

The satellite communications provider states that it has carried out the first automotive satellite voice call integrated directly into a BMW Group vehicle.

Making it work

The technology trial was conducted during the recent 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) Meeting Week in Munich, Germany. The voice call was initiated and managed through the BMW iX3’s infotainment system.

The technological architecture behind this trial builds on a previous demonstration that used electronic SIM card (eSIM) software from Cubic³, a developer of software-defined vehicle (SDV) systems.

During the trial, Viasat’s team used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF Gen 2 solution alongside the Fraunhofer IIS NESC AI voice codec. These allowed the voice call to be transmitted using 3GPP standards-based NB-IoT and routed over Viasat’s L-band satellite network.

Future 3GPP releases will pave the way for more advanced satellite services such as video streaming and seamless roaming between terrestrial and satellite networks.

If you want to go far, go together

Viasat, BMW Group, Cubic³ and Fraunhofer IIS are all active members of the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), a global cross-industry organisation that works to develop practical and scalable connectivity solutions for road safety. The 5GAA recently welcomed Toyota Motor Europe as a Gold Member.

Potential applications for satellite-enabled automotive systems include fleet management, over-the-air vehicle software updates in areas with low connectivity and critical emergency response services.

The standards-based approach

“This demonstration reflects broader industry excitement to ensure consistent, resilient satellite capabilities for next-generation vehicles,” says Sandeep Moorthy, Senior Vice President, Advanced Non-Terrestrial Solutions at Viasat.

“By bringing standards-based NTN to vehicles, we can integrate satellite voice and messaging and ultimately enable a future where drivers can remain connected – wherever the journey takes them.” 

Back to Earth – ‘seeing’ round corners

The BMW iX3 is a fitting test-bed for advanced connectivity. It is equipped with Qualcomm Technologies’ V2X 200 chipset, which supports vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications for improved safety. 

V2X means that vehicles can ‘see’ and ‘hear’ beyond line-of-sight Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) sensors.

This helps cut down on collisions by identifying risks that would otherwise be missed, using direct communication between vehicles and their surroundings, such as road infrastructure, pedestrians, and other road users.