KDDI and partners to test autonomous vehicle remote monitoring in Japan

A consortium of nine organizations, including KDDI, Alpico Kotsu, and Aisan Technology, will conduct a technical demonstration in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, starting November 2, 2026. The project aims to verify stable video transmission for remote monitoring of autonomous vehicles using L4S (Low Latency, Low Loss, and Scalable Throughput) and network slicing technologies.

To support Level 4 autonomous driving, where no driver is present in the vehicle, a reliable remote monitoring system is essential. The demonstration will test how network slicing can logically separate monitoring data from general passenger data to prevent video lag or distortion during periods of high network congestion. Additionally, L4S technology integrated into Ericsson network equipment will be used to detect congestion and dynamically optimize video quality.

The initiative is part of a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications project to establish a communication model for autonomous driving that can be implemented nationwide. The group aims to develop a “one-to-N” remote monitoring system, allowing a single operator to oversee multiple vehicles simultaneously.