Autonomous shuttle buses are becoming increasingly common in parks, scenic areas, airports, and other controlled environments. Unlike traditional vehicles, these driverless shuttles rely entirely on onboard intelligent systems and cloud-based platforms for real-time communication. As the core component of vehicle communication, the choice of gateway directly impacts the reliability of the entire system. Through conversations with clients, we’ve noticed that many teams invest heavily in vehicle development but overlook critical details in communication system selection, leading to frequent network failures during operations.

Core Communication Requirements for Autonomous Shuttles

Autonomous shuttles have more demanding communication requirements compared to standard connected vehicles. Based on our project experience, three aspects stand out:

Network redundancy is essential. During operation within parks or campuses, vehicles pass through underground tunnels, steel-structured buildings, and areas with dense tree coverage where single-carrier signal coverage is often inadequate. When network connectivity drops, vehicles trigger safety stop protocols, impacting operational efficiency. In more serious scenarios, vehicles may fail to receive critical obstacle avoidance commands from the cloud, creating safety risks.

Complex device connectivity needs. Modern autonomous shuttles carry numerous devices: master industrial computers for decision-making, LiDAR and millimeter-wave radar for environmental perception, multiple cameras providing visual data, edge computing units processing real-time information, positioning modules providing location data, and connections to vehicle chassis systems. These devices require various interface types including Ethernet ports, serial ports, and CAN bus connections.

Industrial environment adaptability. Autonomous shuttles need to operate outdoors around the clock, enduring summer heat and sun exposure, winter cold, and continuous vibration. Consumer-grade networking equipment typically cannot maintain stable long-term operation under these conditions.

Technical Architecture of the SV900

The SV900 is specifically optimized for the unique demands of autonomous shuttles.

Dual network redundancy is the core feature of this device. The SV900 integrates two independent 5G communication modules, supporting simultaneous dual-5G operation or a hybrid 5G+4G configuration. Both networks can work in active-standby mode or load-balancing mode. When one network experiences failure or signal degradation, the system automatically switches to the alternative path, ensuring uninterrupted communication. The device also supports Redcap networks, a 5G technology optimized for medium-speed IoT scenarios with lower power consumption, which is more battery-friendly for electric shuttles.

For processor selection, the SV900 uses a dual-core A53 architecture, a thoroughly validated industrial-grade processor that achieves an excellent balance between stability and power management. Vehicle gateways differ from home routers—peak performance isn’t the primary consideration; long-term stable operation is what matters most.

Comprehensive interface configuration is another significant advantage. The device provides five Gigabit Ethernet ports, all using M12 aviation-grade connectors. These threaded locking connections are far more reliable than standard RJ45 ports in vehicle vibration environments. In actual deployments, clients typically connect master computing units, LiDAR, cameras, and edge computing devices to separate ports, enabling high-speed data exchange between devices.

Particularly noteworthy is the M12-X three-in-one interface, which integrates RS232, RS485, and CAN bus protocols. Many clients use the CAN interface to directly connect with vehicle chassis controllers, reading real-time data like vehicle speed, battery status, and motor operation parameters without requiring additional protocol conversion equipment, simplifying the system architecture.

The device supports both SIM cards and ESIM cards. The over-the-air provisioning capability of ESIM cards makes carrier switching more flexible, especially suitable for projects requiring deployment across different regions.

Practical Application Value of Key Features

NTRIP differential positioning support is a feature clients find particularly useful. Autonomous shuttles have high positioning accuracy requirements. Standard GPS positioning has meter-level errors, making it difficult to meet demands in narrow passages or precise docking scenarios. The SV900 has a built-in NTRIP client that can directly connect to differential positioning service provider servers, receive differential correction data, and transparently transmit it to the vehicle’s positioning module, improving positioning accuracy to centimeter level. Configuration is completed through the device’s web management interface by entering server address and account information—no additional development required.

Local log storage may seem simple but is crucial for autonomous vehicle safety auditing. The device’s built-in FLASH storage records critical information including network status changes, traffic statistics, device reboots, and NTRIP connection status. Even during temporary network interruptions, log data is saved locally and automatically uploaded to the management platform once connectivity is restored. This data provides important reference material for analyzing abnormal vehicle behavior and troubleshooting system failures.

Network quality monitoring continuously checks the connection status and quality metrics of both network paths. Through periodic ping tests, packet loss statistics, and other methods, the system can identify network issues early, triggering switches or sending alert notifications. This proactive monitoring mechanism is far more reliable than passively waiting for failures to occur.

The device supports frequency band locking and system locking for 5G modules. In certain specific scenarios, the device can be forced to work on particular frequency bands or network systems, avoiding instability caused by frequent switching.

System Integration and Expansion Capabilities

The SV900 runs on a Linux operating system, providing significant convenience for client customization. The device comes with complete development documentation and SDKs, allowing clients to deploy their own business logic on the gateway, such as local data preprocessing, edge AI inference, and custom protocol conversion. This openness means the gateway serves not just as a communication device but can also handle computational tasks.

For networking features, the device supports OSPF and RIP dynamic routing protocols, suitable for building complex fleet network topologies. Policy routing functionality can direct different business traffic to different network links based on conditions like data type and source-destination addresses. For example, video surveillance traffic can use high-bandwidth 5G links while control commands use another low-latency network path.

VLAN functionality allows the vehicle network to be divided into multiple logically isolated subnets, such as management networks, business networks, and video transmission networks, improving network security and management efficiency. The device supports both tagged and untagged VLAN modes with excellent compatibility.

VPN functionality supports multiple protocols including PPTP, L2TP, IPSEC, OPENVPN, GRE, GRETAP, and Vxlan, enabling encrypted tunnels from vehicles to the cloud to protect data transmission security. This is essential for applications with high data security requirements.

The device also supports bridge mode, allowing the public IP obtained through 5G dialing to be directly assigned to downstream devices, simplifying network configuration. The 5GLAN feature uses carrier 5G networks to establish LANs, enabling low-latency communication between vehicles or vehicle-to-infrastructure.

Optional GPS/BeiDou positioning modules and WLAN modules make the device’s functionality more complete. Positioning modules can provide basic location information for vehicles, while WLAN modules offer backup network access in specific areas like charging stations or parking lots.

Operations Management Convenience

The SV900 supports SNMP protocol, allowing integration with existing enterprise network management systems. It also works with Starlink’s proprietary STARDEVICEMANAGER Star Cloud platform, providing centralized device management, configuration distribution, status monitoring, and firmware upgrades. For clients operating large-scale fleets, a unified management platform significantly reduces operational costs.

The device supports remote configuration and remote restart, reducing the frequency of on-site maintenance. Device status information query and reporting allow operations staff to monitor vehicle network status, signal strength, and traffic usage in real-time.

Application Scenarios Summary

Based on our project experience, the SV900 is particularly well-suited for these scenarios:

Closed-road shuttle services in parks and scenic areas, where road conditions are relatively controlled but communication stability is critical. Airport and high-speed rail station shuttle vehicles that require frequent stops and precise docking. Automated transport vehicles in logistics parks and ports that need to handle large volumes of video and sensor data. Industrial park commuter buses with strict safety and reliability requirements.

Communication systems for autonomous shuttles are a critical component of any self-driving solution. A well-designed, feature-rich vehicle gateway can significantly improve system stability and operational efficiency. The SV900’s design emphasis on network redundancy, interface richness, industrial reliability, and functional completeness all target the actual needs of specialized applications like autonomous vehicles. If you’re working on related projects, we recommend thoroughly evaluating your communication system architecture and selecting equipment that truly fits your requirements.