Volvo Trucks proposes high-speed wireless trailer data connection

The standard J560 tractor-trailer connection leaves a lot to be desired for data transmission. There are plenty of alternatives in the market, but the trucking industry has not yet chosen its champion. Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) is now also in the running with its proposed high-speed wireless connection.

VTNA is trying to make its patented high-speed wireless connection a standard for tractor-trailer interfacing, the company said at the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council.

With so many opportunities to overhaul a trailer’s technology—and coordinate that tech to the tractor—one obstacle is the wired connection to the tractor. Camera feeds, cargo sensors, brake pad sensors, and so on can’t all fit North America’s 7-pin standard. 

Volvo Trucks announced that it partnered with technology provider Tectran Manufacturing for the integration of high-speed wireless communication in the existing standard connector housing. The patented system, US Patent 20220006516 A1 (Connector Assembly for High-Speed Wireless Communication Between Vehicles), enables a truck and trailer to exchange high-speed data wirelessly through the tractor-trailer connection point.

“It opens up a wireless broadband interface that can be implemented to do basically anything,” Anders Gustavsson, manager for electrical architecture and systems engineering at VTNA, said.

The J560 connector’s mere 7 pins

In today’s standard tractor-trailer connection, there are clear limitations. The current SAE standard 7-pin J560 connection was first developed in 1951, with basic lighting and brake signaling in mind.

“Today’s connectors between tractors and trailers were developed decades ago and really just designed for lighting and basic braking, but modern trucks have advanced safety systems, cameras, and telematics,” Maddie Sullivan, product marketing manager for VTNA, told attendees at TMC. “They require much larger data capacity than these connectors were ever designed for.”

SAE tried to introduce a 15-pin connector (J2691) in 2013, but it failed to gain momentum, largely because it was not backward compatible with the existing J560.

To resolve the discrepancy, Volvo and its tech partner developed a new patented connector to increase data bandwidth.

VTNA’s high-bandwidth wireless connection

The proposed standard from Volvo Trucks would be a short-range wireless solution using radio frequencies to communicate data, much like the familiar automotive Bluetooth. The system would use the same J560 connector type that goes between the tractor and the trailer but with a small addition to the housing.

“We’re planning to use the same connection as the J560 today, but we’re planning to add a wireless transmission at the same time,” Gustavsson explained. “The wireless chipset and antenna would be built into the housing of the connector male and female part.”

The high-speed wireless connection could transmit camera feeds, radar data, cargo sensor data, and so on—or it could coordinate the tractor and trailer’s braking systems or roll stability.

“One opportunity will be the real-time data that would come from the trailer: We could provide that information in real time to the driver or the operator,” Gustavsson said. That would also be a big game changer.”

Volvo Trucks plans to work with industry stakeholders to promote its patented technology as a future connection standard in the U.S. and Canada.