A Measurement Based Shadow Fading Model for Vehicle-to-Vehicle Network Simulations

The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) propagation channel has significant implications on the design and performance of novel communication protocols for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). Extensive research efforts have been made to develop V2V channel models to be implemented in advanced VANET system simulators for performance evaluation. The impact of shadowing caused by other vehicles has, however, largely been neglected in most of the models, as well as in the system simulations. In this paper we present a shadow fading model targeting system simulations based on real measurements performed in urban and highway scenarios. The measurement data is separated into three categories, line-of-sight (LOS), obstructed line-of-sight (OLOS) by vehicles, and non line-of-sight due to buildings, with the help of video information recorded during the measurements. It is observed that vehicles obstructing the LOS induce an additional average attenuation of about 10 dB in the received signal power. An approach to incorporate the LOS/OLOS model into existing VANET simulators is also provided. Finally, system level VANET simulation results are presented, showing the difference between the LOS/OLOS model and a channel model based on Nakagami-m fading.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Hindawi International Journal of Antennas and Propagatio

Fundamental diagrams for kinetic equations of traffic flow

In this paper we investigate the ability of some recently introduced discrete kinetic models of vehicular traffic to catch, in their large time behavior, typical features of theoretical fundamental diagrams. Specifically, we address the so-called "spatially homogeneous problem" and, in the representative case of an exploratory model, we study the qualitative properties of its solutions for a generic number of discrete microstates. This includes, in particular, asymptotic trends and equilibria, whence fundamental diagrams originate.Comment: 14 page

Modeling and Design of Millimeter-Wave Networks for Highway Vehicular Communication

Connected and autonomous vehicles will play a pivotal role in future Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) and smart cities, in general. High-speed and low-latency wireless communication links will allow municipalities to warn vehicles against safety hazards, as well as support cloud-driving solutions to drastically reduce traffic jams and air pollution. To achieve these goals, vehicles need to be equipped with a wide range of sensors generating and exchanging high rate data streams. Recently, millimeter wave (mmWave) techniques have been introduced as a means of fulfilling such high data rate requirements. In this paper, we model a highway communication network and characterize its fundamental link budget metrics. In particular, we specifically consider a network where vehicles are served by mmWave Base Stations (BSs) deployed alongside the road. To evaluate our highway network, we develop a new theoretical model that accounts for a typical scenario where heavy vehicles (such as buses and lorries) in slow lanes obstruct Line-of-Sight (LOS) paths of vehicles in fast lanes and, hence, act as blockages. Using tools from stochastic geometry, we derive approximations for the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) outage probability, as well as the probability that a user achieves a target communication rate (rate coverage probability). Our analysis provides new design insights for mmWave highway communication networks. In considered highway scenarios, we show that reducing the horizontal beamwidth from $90^\circ$ to $30^\circ$ determines a minimal reduction in the SINR outage probability (namely, $4 \cdot 10^{-2}$ at maximum). Also, unlike bi-dimensional mmWave cellular networks, for small BS densities (namely, one BS every $500$ m) it is still possible to achieve an SINR outage probability smaller than $0.2$.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology -- Connected Vehicles Serie

Time- and Frequency-Varying KK-Factor of Non-Stationary Vehicular Channels for Safety Relevant Scenarios

Vehicular communication channels are characterized by a non-stationary time- and frequency-selective fading process due to fast changes in the environment. We characterize the distribution of the envelope of the first delay bin in vehicle-to-vehicle channels by means of its Rician $K$-factor. We analyze the time-frequency variability of this channel parameter using vehicular channel measurements at 5.6 GHz with a bandwidth of 240 MHz for safety-relevant scenarios in intelligent transportation systems (ITS). This data enables a frequency-variability analysis from an IEEE 802.11p system point of view, which uses 10 MHz channels. We show that the small-scale fading of the envelope of the first delay bin is Ricean distributed with a varying $K$-factor. The later delay bins are Rayleigh distributed. We demonstrate that the $K$-factor cannot be assumed to be constant in time and frequency. The causes of these variations are the frequency-varying antenna radiation patterns as well as the time-varying number of active scatterers, and the effects of vegetation. We also present a simple but accurate bi-modal Gaussian mixture model, that allows to capture the $K$-factor variability in time for safety-relevant ITS scenarios.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems for possible publicatio

An Empirical Air-to-Ground Channel Model Based on Passive Measurements in LTE

In this paper, a recently conducted measurement campaign for unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) channels is introduced. The downlink signals of an in-service long-time-evolution (LTE) network which is deployed in a suburban scenario were acquired. Five horizontal and five vertical flight routes were considered. The channel impulse responses (CIRs) are extracted from the received data by exploiting the cell specific signals (CRSs). Based on the CIRs, the parameters of multipath components (MPCs) are estimated by using a high-resolution algorithm derived according to the space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization (SAGE) principle. Based on the SAGE results, channel characteristics including the path loss, shadow fading, fast fading, delay spread and Doppler frequency spread are thoroughly investigated for different heights and horizontal distances, which constitute a stochastic model.Comment: 15 pages, submitted version to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. Current status: Early acces

In-vehicle channel sounding in the 5.8-GHz band

The article reports vehicular channel measurements in the frequency band of 5.8 GHz for IEEE 802.11p standard. Experiments for both intra-vehicle and out-of-vehicle environments were carried out. It was observed that the large-scale variations (LSVs) of the power delay profiles (PDPs) can be best described through a two-term exponential decay model, in contrast to the linear models which are suitable for popular ultra-wideband (UWB) systems operating in the 3- to 11-GHz band. The small-scale variations (SSVs) are separated from the PDP by subtracting the LSV and characterized utilizing logistic, generalized extreme value (GEV), and normal distributions. Two sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) tests validated that the logistic distribution is optimal for in-car, whereas the GEV distribution serves better for out-of-car measurements. For each measurement, the LSV trend was used to construct the respective channel impulse response (CIR), i.e., tap gains at different delays. Next, the CIR information is fed to an 802.11p simulation testbed to evaluate the bit error rate (BER) performance, following a Rician model. The BER results strongly vouch for the suitability of the protocol for in-car as well as out-of-car wireless applications in stationary environments.The article reports vehicular channel measurements in the frequency band of 5.8 GHz for IEEE 802.11p standard. Experiments for both intra-vehicle and out-of-vehicle environments were carried out. It was observed that the large-scale variations (LSVs) of the power delay profiles (PDPs) can be best described through a two-term exponential decay model, in contrast to the linear models which are suitable for popular ultra-wideband (UWB) systems operating in the 3- to 11-GHz band. The small-scale variations (SSVs) are separated from the PDP by subtracting the LSV and characterized utilizing logistic, generalized extreme value (GEV), and normal distributions. Two sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) tests validated that the logistic distribution is optimal for in-car, whereas the GEV distribution serves better for out-of-car measurements. For each measurement, the LSV trend was used to construct the respective channel impulse response (CIR), i.e., tap gains at different delays. Next, the CIR information is fed to an 802.11p simulation testbed to evaluate the bit error rate (BER) performance, following a Rician model. The BER results strongly vouch for the suitability of the protocol for in-car as well as out-of-car wireless applications in stationary environments