Bosch-Led ConnRAD Consortium Unveils Comprehensive Architecture for Resilient Connected and Automated Driving

Bosch-Led ConnRAD Consortium Unveils Comprehensive Architecture for Resilient Connected and Automated Driving

(IN BRIEF) Bosch and its research partners have published the final results of ConnRAD, a three-year project focused on strengthening the resilience and safety of connected and automated driving systems. The project developed new methods that allow vehicles and infrastructure to assess the reliability and quality of exchanged V2X data before using it for safety-critical decisions, addressing the challenge of uncertain or incomplete information in real traffic conditions. Demonstrations showed how ConnRAD’s metadata-based evaluation can make left turns at intersections safer and help avoid rear-end collisions in congested scenarios. The consortium created a robust communication architecture integrating cybersecurity, functional safety, regulatory needs and data-quality verification. Contributions from Infineon, TUM, the University of Ulm, Fraunhofer IEM and TÜV SÜD strengthened authentication, teleoperation safety, trust modeling and regulatory alignment. The project concludes with a comprehensive reference architecture that supports the scalable approval and development of resilient automated driving systems.

(PRESS RELEASE) STUTTGART, 13-Nov-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — Bosch is leading a major step forward in the future of connected and automated mobility with the release of the final results from the three-year ConnRAD research project. As connectivity and digitalization increasingly shape road traffic, the project addresses a critical challenge: ensuring that automated and networked mobility systems remain reliable and safe, even when information exchanged between vehicles and infrastructure is incomplete, uncertain or of fluctuating quality. ConnRAD — “connectivity & resilience for automated driving functions in Germany” — was carried out under Bosch’s consortium leadership and funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.

Working alongside a broad research partnership that includes the Daimler Center for Automotive Information Technology Innovations (DCAITI), Fraunhofer FOKUS, Fraunhofer IEM, htw saar, Infineon Technologies AG, the Technical University of Munich, TÜV SÜD and the University of Ulm, Bosch and its collaborators explored how distributed mobility systems can be developed, tested and approved with resilience at their core. The project focused on strengthening V2X communication — the exchange of data between vehicles and infrastructure — by creating tools and architectural principles that help systems function safely under real-world, imperfect conditions.

A central achievement of ConnRAD is the development of mechanisms that allow both vehicles and infrastructure components to evaluate the reliability, origin and suitability of the information they exchange. With V2X data often affected by weather conditions, traffic density or the limitations of specific sensors, automated driving functions require a means to quantify the trustworthiness of incoming information before using it for safety-critical decisions. ConnRAD’s methods introduce this evaluative capability, making automated systems more robust when faced with uncertain data.

Bosch, together with FOKUS and DCAITI, demonstrated one of the project’s most impactful use cases: improving the safety of left turns at busy intersections. By enabling radar and lidar sensors embedded in road infrastructure to transmit metadata alongside their signals, vehicles can determine whether the information is sufficiently reliable to proceed. A generic “intersection clear” message can be misleading and potentially dangerous without context; however, ConnRAD’s metadata-based verification allows vehicles to assess sensor quality and abort or continue the turn accordingly. htw saar applied similar principles to prevent rear-end collisions at the end of traffic jams through plausibility checks on V2X communication.

To support such advanced decision-making, ConnRAD developed a comprehensive communication architecture that incorporates cybersecurity, functional safety, operational frameworks and regulatory considerations. New extensions to existing message formats allow systems to continuously assess data quality in real time. When the system detects degraded data quality, it can automatically adjust driving behavior or switch to alternate information sources.

Infineon Technologies AG contributed hardware-level authentication techniques, using the inherent physical characteristics of communication components as unalterable “fingerprints” to authenticate transmitted data, significantly enhancing data integrity and protection against manipulation.

The Technical University of Munich introduced methods to support teleoperated driving under reduced bandwidth, including the Ability Awareness Protocol and predictive network quality assessment tools. The University of Ulm’s trust-based modeling further demonstrated significant improvements in system resilience, while Fraunhofer IEM formalised processes that integrate resilience into system development. TÜV SÜD analyzed legal and regulatory implications to ensure the scalability and approval of future automated driving technologies.

The ConnRAD consortium has now produced a full reference architecture and a set of methodologies that will guide the development and approval of resilient, safety-critical automated driving functions. The project marks a significant advancement toward dependable, connected mobility systems capable of functioning safely in dynamic and demanding real-world environments.

SOURCE Bosch