LG Electronics has begun mass production of a 5G Release 16 smart telematics unit integrating up to 12 antennas and has started deliveries to a premium European automaker. The company said the supply deal marks the solution’s first deployment in a production vehicle in Europe. The product combines a communications module and multiple antennas in a single unit, aiming to improve connectivity while reducing radio-frequency cabling, wiring complexity, vehicle weight and cost.

Conventional vehicle communication systems typically use a telematics control unit and a separate externally mounted shark-fin antenna. LG said growing demand for Multi-Frequency Global Navigation Satellite Systems, 5G, Wi-Fi and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity has increased the number of antennas required in vehicles, creating space and wiring challenges, particularly in electric vehicles.

The new unit uses an internal architecture designed to accommodate up to 12 antennas, reducing reliance on externally mounted antennas. Its modular design allows telematics and antenna boards to be combined or separated depending on automaker requirements, enabling use in new vehicle models and existing platforms.

The solution is built on LG’s proprietary Automotive Telematics Platform, which the company said has been developed and refined over more than a decade. The platform uses the same core software across supported applications, with adjustments for chipset-specific interfaces, improving software reuse, development efficiency, stability and compatibility across global communication environments.

The product supports multiple communications chipsets to reduce dependence on a single component and mitigate supply chain risk. The company also said real-vehicle testing verified stable data transmission and reception in high-temperature conditions. LG aims to position the system as a communications infrastructure for software-defined vehicles, supporting over-the-air updates, V2X and autonomous-driving data transmission.

This content may be AI-assisted and is composed, reviewed, edited and approved by Mobility Global.