The evolution of the Rear Lamp system, from wired to wireless

Wireless technology is rapidly advancing in the automotive industry, developing new standards and protocols that improve data rates, reliability, and security. The integration of wireless communication in vehicles enables a wide range of applications, such as Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, which can improve road safety and traffic efficiency. As such, wireless technology is a promising solution for the future of transportation. At Marelli Automotive Lighting, new technologies are constantly developed and researched to deliver exclusive customer experiences while providing innovative features. The rear lamp communication architecture, while capable of satisfying the current requirements, will fall short when miniLED technology and sensor integration will become common. Therefore, alternatives must be evaluated to ensure the product's future-proof and competitiveness. This thesis focuses on this problem, finding a suitable wireless protocol to use in the rear lamp communication and valuable use cases. The major wireless applications and protocols are analyzed carefully from the literature to provide context. After exploring protocol candidates and possible use cases, Ultra Wide Band is selected as a promising solution for short-range communication for the intra-rear lamp scenario. The tests performed on the UWB evaluation boards show that UWB is a viable solution for this application, providing reliable and efficient data transmission and being capable of withstanding interferences and reflections. This is the case as long the boards are configured correctly; otherwise, significant variations in the communication quality are measured. UWB technology is expected to evolve and expand its range of applications beyond ranging. As the technology matures, UWB will become an increasingly versatile and valuable tool for various applications.