Tata Communications Cloudlyte’s edge solutions for real-time data processing and enhanced connectivity

Automotive Industries interview with Neelakantan Venkataraman, Vice President and Global Head – Cloud and Edge Business, Tata Communications

As the automotive industry continues to embrace digital transformation, the need for advanced platforms catering to its unique requirements is evident. Neelakantan Venkataraman, Vice President and Global Head of Cloud and Edge Business at Tata Communications, sheds light on how Tata Communications CloudLyte, with its innovative approach, addresses the specific needs of the automotive sector

Neelakantan outlines how Tata Communications CloudLyte stands as a pioneering solution tailored to the automotive industry’s demands. The platform’s fully automated edge computing capabilities are finely tuned to manage the vast volumes of data generated within connected vehicles, enabling real-time decision-making. Beyond enhancing in-car entertainment and infotainment systems, its ‘solution in a box’ approach streamlines deployment and scalability for automotive enterprises, offering pre-stitched solutions for various operational contexts.

Moreover Tata Communications CloudLyte’s multi-access, cloud, and infrastructure-agnostic architecture empowers global automotive enterprises with unparalleled flexibility and efficiency. Neelakantan highlights the platform’s  built-in security features, including zero-trust architecture and layered defenses, safeguarding sensitive data and ensuring operational continuity against potential threats.

Tata Communications CloudLyte’s capability for real-time data processing and low latency applications revolutionizes automotive manufacturing processes, enabling immediate anomaly detection and rectification. Neelakantan discusses specific use cases where Tata Communications CloudLyte has driven business growth and innovation, from enhancing employee safety to optimizing production lines and creating immersive virtual showrooms.

Additionally, the platform’s centralized management console facilitates seamless resource management, upgrades, and replication across multiple automotive facilities, enhancing operational efficiency and future-proofing investments.

Neelakantan envisions Tata Communications CloudLyte’s pivotal role in advancing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, potentially powering Software Defined Vehicles with V2X and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) functionalities, further revolutionizing the automotive landscape.

Automotive Industries interview with Neelakantan Venkataraman, Vice President and Global Head – Cloud and Edge Business, Tata Communications

Automotive Industries: Hi Neel, how does Tata Communications CloudLyte’s fully automated edge computing platform specifically cater to the unique needs of the automotive sector?

 Neelakantan:  The sheer amount of information that gets generated, along with the navigation information needed for real-time decision making in a moving car, makes a perfect recipe for an edge computing platform. From processing the data locally to receiving insights, the platform is adept at running analytics, ensures data security and ties into multiple systems to provide a satisfying driving experience. Tata Communications CloudLyte goes beyond connected cars, too, by providing an orchestration and compute platform in factories, on test tracks and around sales and post-sale services in garages. These enable our customers to access bundled uses cases such as employee safety, virtual showrooms, IT/OT integration and SOTA, among others.

Automotive Industries: Can you explain how Tata Communications CloudLyte enhances in-car entertainment and infotainment systems within connected vehicles?

Neelakantan:  Providing a wide range of high-definition content and a low latency gaming experience in a moving vehicle means data needs to be available with a minimum number of hops and without breaking out of the Service Provider network. As an edge orchestration and compute platform, Tata Communications CloudLyte enables the shortest path by being the closest to the vehicle.

Automotive Industries: How does the ‘solution in a box’ approach of Tata Communications CloudLyte benefit automotive enterprises in terms of deployment and scalability?

Neelakantan:  Bundled solutions like ‘Garage in a Box’ or ‘Video Analytics in a Box; can be pushed via a single click into edge devices sitting on premises like factories, test sites or car showrooms. For some of our customers locations like showrooms can number in the hundreds or even thousands, so deploying pre-stitched solutions means much greater ease in monitoring and solution availability.

Automotive Industries: What are some key advantages of Tata Communications CloudLyte’s multi-access, cloud, and infrastructure-agnostic architecture for global automotive enterprises?

Neelakantan:  Global automotive enterprises are manning factories which are ideal for private 5G installation, given legacy systems and difficult-to-reach areas when it comes to wired connectivity. Tata Communications CloudLyte’s bundled 5G core means data from PLCs and HD cameras can land into the device where local processing is done. The different hardware and OS subsystems – each of which is solving a different problem – can be collapsed into a single CloudLyte ecosystem, thanks to its multi-access and infrastructure-agnostic architecture.

Automotive Industries: How does Tata Communications CloudLyte’s built-in security, including zero-trust architecture and layered defenses, simplify operations and maximize efficiency for automotive businesses?

Neelakantan:  Sensitive factory data falling into wrong hands can be catastrophic in nature. That’s also true if any mission-critical applications are incapacitated by a DOS attack. Having layered security to the underlying compute, complete with zero-trust architecture, ensures the ecosystem is safe from external breaches. Additional security features such as deep packet inspection at the edge helps to further prevent unwanted incidents.

Automotive Industries: In what ways does Tata Communications CloudLyte enable real-time data processing and low latency applications for the automotive industry?

Neelakantan:  Consider an assembly line that can be monitored through computer vision. Thanks to Tata Communications CloudLyte, any anomalies or defects can be discovered immediately and rectified in real-time thanks to local processing – stopping defects from multiplying and causing extensive material and time loss.

Automotive Industries: Can you discuss specific use cases where Tata Communications CloudLyte has driven business growth and innovation within the automotive sector?

Neelakantan:  We’re already seeing multiple use cases make an impact for our customers. This includes improving employee safety, making production lines more efficient and the use of virtual showrooms to create better buying experiences for their end buyers.

Automotive Industries: How does Tata Communications CloudLyte’s capability to manage edge resources centrally contribute to a seamless experience for automotive enterprises?

 Neelakantan: A central management console can help streamline upgrades, reduce operational costs, improve efficiency and transfer benefits from one factory to another by replication. Edge devices can also be optimized for data processing and spare capacity to be used for additional use cases, making the investment future-proof.

Automotive Industries: What role does Tata Communications CloudLyte play in advancing Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication, and how does it improve driver assistance and safety?

Neelakantan: In our future roadmap, we are considering the potential of Tata Communications CloudLyte to power Software Defined Vehicles, incorporating V2X and ADAS functionalities.