Quality of Service and Associated Communication Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles †

Transportation electrification is pivotal for achieving energy security and emission reduction goals. Electric vehicles (EVs) are at the forefront of this transition, driving the development of new EV technologies and infrastructure. As this trend gains momentum, it becomes essential to enhance the quality of service (QoS) of EVs to encourage their widespread adoption. This paper has been structured with two primary aims to effectively address the above timely technological needs. Firstly, it comprehensively reviews the various QoS factors that influence EVs’ performance and the user experience. Delving into these factors provides valuable insights into how the QoS can be improved, thereby fostering the increased use of EVs on our roads. In addition to the QoS, this paper also explores recent advancements in communication technologies vital for facilitating in-formation exchanges between EVs and charging stations. Efficient communication systems are crucial for optimizing EV operations and enhancing user experiences. This paper presents expert-level technical details in an easily understandable manner, making it a valuable resource for researchers dedicated to improving the QoS of EV communication systems, who are tirelessly working towards a cleaner, more efficient future in transportation. It consolidates the current knowledge in the field and presents the latest discoveries and developments, offering practical insights for enhancing the QoS in electric transportation. A QoS parameter reference map, a detailed classification of QoS parameters, and a classification of EV communication technology references are some of the key contributions of this review paper. In doing so, this paper contributes to the broader objectives of promoting transportation electrification, enhancing energy security, and reducing emissions

The impact of inter-vehicle communication on vehicular traffic

The work addresses communication networks established over radio equipped vehicles in our everyday road traffic, so called Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), and discusses their impact on two major goals, namely traffic safety and traffic efficiency. For both objectives, the thesis proposes an appropriate modeling of the essential building blocks Traffic, Communication and Application and enables impact assessment studies by means of implemented simulation tools

Controlo de acesso ao meio em comunicações veiculares de tempo-real

Despite several preventive measures, the number of roadway accidents is still very high, being considered even a problem of public health by some entities. This thesis has as global purpose of contributing to the reduction of that number of accidents, and consequent fatalities, by using safety-related applications that use communication among vehicles. In particular, the primary goal is guaranteeing that communication between users in vehicular environments is done with appropriate time bounds to transfer safety-critical information. In detail, it is studied how to manage the scheduling of message’s transmissions (medium access control - MAC), in order to define precisely who will communicate and when is the appropriate instant. The preferable situation where a communication infrastructure is present with full coverage (RSUs) is also studied, from which medium access control is defined precisely, and vehicles (OBUs) become aware of medium utilization. Also, sporadic situations (e.g., absence of RSUs) are studied in which the communication network is “ad hoc” and solely formed by the current vehicles. It is used the recently WAVE / IEEE 802.11p standard, specific for vehicular communications, and it is proposed a TDMA based solution, with appropriate coordination between RSUs in order to effectively disseminate a critical safety event. It is taken into account two different ways of choosing the instant for the initial broadcast, and both cases are compared. In case there is no infrastructure available, methods are derived to minimize communication medium access collisions, and to maximize the available bandwidth. The results reflect the total end-to-end delay, and show that adequate times are attained, and meet with the requisites for the type of applications being considered. Also, enhancements are obtained when using the alternate choice for the initial broadcast instant.Apesar de diversas medidas preventivas, o número de acidentes rodoviários continua a ser muito elevado, sendo mesmo considerado uma questão de saúde pública por algumas entidades. Esta tese tem como objetivo geral contribuir para a redução desse número de acidentes, e consequentes fatalidades, através da utilização de aplicações de segurança que envolvem comunicação entre veículos. Em particular, o objetivo principal é garantir que a comunicação entre utentes, em ambientes veiculares, seja efetuada com limites temporais apropriados à transferência de informações críticas. De forma mais detalhada, é estudada a gestão do escalonamento das transmissões (controlo de acesso ao meio – MAC) que irá definir quem vai comunicar e quando o pode fazer. São estudadas situações (desejadas) onde há uma infra-estrutura de comunicações com cobertura integral (RSUs), a partir da qual se faz a coordenação do acesso ao meio pelos veículos (OBUs), e situações (esporádicas, por ausência de RSU) em que a rede de comunicação é “ad hoc” e apenas constituída pelos veículos presentes. Utiliza-se a recente norma WAVE / IEEE 802.11p, específica para comunicações veiculares, e propõe-se uma solução baseada em TDMA, com coordenação apropriada entre RSUs para disseminação efetiva de um evento crítico de segurança. A escolha do instante para o broadcast inicial do evento de segurança também é tida em conta, e são comparados dois casos distintos. No caso da ausência de infraestrutura, derivam-se métodos para minimizar colisões no acesso ao meio de comunicação, e maximizar a largura de banda disponível. Os resultados refletem o atraso total end-to-end, mostrando tempos apropriados para os requisitos das aplicações em causa, e evidenciando melhorias aquando da escolha alternativa para o instante do broadcast inicial.Programa Doutoral em Engenharia Eletrotécnic

Economical and Environmentally Friendly Geocast Routing in Vehicular Networks

The volatile world economy has greatly affected fuel prices, while pollution and gas emissions are increasing to negatively impact global warming. Rising fuel costs have made drivers more concerned about how much of their monthly budgets are allocated for gasoline. In terms of the air pollution problem, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vehicles are considered to be one of the main contributing sources. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is the largest component of GHG emissions. As a result, it is important to develop and implement effective strategies to reduce fuel expenditure and prevent the expected increase of CO₂ emission from vehicles. Vehicular networks offer a promising approach that can be applied in transportation systems to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. One of the major applications of vehicular networks is intelligent transportation systems (ITS). To exchange and distribute messages, geocast routing protocols have been proposed for ITS applications. Most of these protocols focus on improving network-centric performance measures (e.g., message delay, packet delivery ratio, etc.) instead of focusing on improving the performance measures that are meaningful to both the scientific community and the general public (e.g., fuel consumption and CO₂ emission). Stop-and-go conditions, high acceleration, and unnecessary speed are uneconomical and environmentally unfriendly (UEU) actions that increase the amount of vehicle fuel consumed and the CO₂ emission. These actions can happen frequently for vehicles approaching a traffic light signal (TLS). This thesis proposes a new protocol named Economical and Environmentally Friendly Geocast (EEFG), which focuses on minimizing CO₂ emission and fuel consumption from vehicles approaching a TLS. The goal of this protocol is to deliver useful information to approaching vehicles inside the regions of interest (ROIs). Based on the information sent, the vehicle receiving the message adapts its speed to a recommended speed (Sʀ), which helps the vehicle reduce its UEU actions. To determine the value of Sʀ, a comprehensive optimization model that is applicable in both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication and traffic light signal-to-vehicle (TLS2V) communication is developed. The objective function is to minimize fuel consumption by and emissions from vehicles. The speed that can achieve this goal is the optimum Sʀ (Sʀ*). The thesis also proposes efficient heuristic expressions to compute the optimum or near-optimum value of Sʀ. An extensive performance study of the EEFG protocol is performed. It shows the impact of using EEFG in a modeled real-world network for urban and suburban areas in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Four case studies have been considered: (1) a suburban environment at the maximum traffic volume hour of the day; (2) a suburban environment at the minimum traffic volume hour of the day; (3) an urban environment at the maximum traffic volume hour of the day; (4) an urban environment at the minimum traffic volume hour of the day. The results show that EEFG saves fuel and CO₂ emission in all four cases. In addition, the thesis studies the effect of communication parameters (e.g., transmission range, packet delay, and packet dropping rate) on vehicle fuel consumption and CO₂ emission. Having high transmission range, low packet delay, and low packet dropping rate, can save more fuel and CO₂ emission

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

Being infrastructure-less and without central administration control, wireless ad-hoc networking is playing a more and more important role in extending the coverage of traditional wireless infrastructure (cellular networks, wireless LAN, etc). This book includes state-of the-art techniques and solutions for wireless ad-hoc networks. It focuses on the following topics in ad-hoc networks: vehicular ad-hoc networks, security and caching, TCP in ad-hoc networks and emerging applications. It is targeted to provide network engineers and researchers with design guidelines for large scale wireless ad hoc networks

Radio shadowing in vehicle-to-vehicle communication at urban intersections : a measurement and simulation-based evaluation

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Distributed Data Management in Vehicular Networks Using Mobile Agents

En los últimos años, las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones se han incorporado al mundo de la automoción gracias a sus avances, y han permitido la creación de dispositivos cada vez más pequeños y potentes. De esta forma, los vehículos pueden ahora incorporar por un precio asequible equipos informáticos y de comunicaciones.En este escenario, los vehículos que circulan por una determinada zona (como una ciudad o una autopista) pueden comunicarse entre ellos usando dispositivos inalámbricos que les permiten intercambiar información con otros vehículos cercanos, formando así una red vehicular ad hoc, o VANET (Vehicular Ad hoc Network). En este tipo de redes, las comunicaciones se establecen con conexiones punto a punto por medio de dispositivos tipo Wi-Fi, que permiten la comunicación con otros del mismo tipo dentro de su alcance, sin que sea necesaria la existencia previa de una infraestructura de comunicaciones como ocurre con las tecnologías de telefonía móvil (como 3G/4G), que además requieren de una suscripción y el pago de una tarifa para poder usarlas.Cada vehículo puede enviar información y recibirla de diversos orígenes, como el propio vehículo (por medio de los sensores que lleva incorporados), otros vehículos que se encuentran cerca, así como de la infraestructura de tráfico presente en las carreteras (como semáforos, señales, paneles electrónicos de información, cámaras de vigilancia, etc.). Todos estas fuentes pueden transmitir datos de diversa índole, como información de interés para los conductores (por ejemplo, atascos de tráfico o accidentes en la vía), o de cualquier otro tipo, mientras sea posible digitalizarla y enviarla a través de una red.Todos esos datos pueden ser almacenados localmente en los ordenadores que llevan los vehículos a medida que son recibidos, y sería muy interesante poder sacarles partido por medio de alguna aplicación que los explotara. Por ejemplo, podrían utilizarse los vehículos como plataformas móviles de sensores que obtengan datos de los lugares por los que viajan. Otro ejemplo de aplicación sería la de ayudar a encontrar plazas de aparcamiento libres en una zona de una ciudad, usando la información que suministrarían los vehículos que dejan una plaza libre.Con este fin, en esta tesis se ha desarrollado una propuesta de la gestión de datos basada en el uso de agentes móviles para poder hacer uso de la información presente en una VANET de forma eficiente y flexible. Esta no es una tarea trivial, ya que los datos se encuentran dispersos entre los vehículos que forman la red, y dichos vehículos están constantemente moviéndose y cambiando de posición. Esto hace que las conexiones de red establecidas entre ellos sean inestables y de corta duración, ya que están constantemente creándose y destruyéndose a medida que los vehículos entran y salen del alcance de sus comunicaciones debido a sus movimientos.En un escenario tan complicado, la aproximación que proponemos permite que los datos sean localizados, y que se puedan hacer consultas sobre ellos y transmitirlos de un sitio cualquiera de la VANET a otro, usando estrategias multi-salto que se adaptan a las siempre cambiantes posiciones de los vehículos. Esto es posible gracias a la utilización de agentes móviles para el procesamiento de datos, ya que cuentan con una serie de propiedades (como su movilidad, autonomía, adaptabilidad, o inteligencia), que hace que sean una elección muy apropiada para este tipo de entorno móvil y con un elevado grado de incertidumbre.La solución propuesta ha sido extensamente evaluada y probada por medio de simulaciones, que demuestran su buen rendimiento y fiabilidad en redes vehiculares con diferentes condiciones y en diversos escenarios.<br /

ReSCon '12, Research Student Conference: Book of Abstracts

The fifth SED Research Student Conference (ReSCon2012) was hosted over three days, 18-20 June 2012, in the Hamilton Centre at Brunel University. The conference consisted of 130 oral and 70 poster presentations, based on the high quality and diverse research being conducted within the School of Engineering and Design by postgraduate research students. The conference is held annually, and ReSCon plays a key role in contributing to research and innovations within the School

TCitySmartF: A comprehensive systematic framework for transforming cities into smart cities

A shared agreed-upon definition of "smart city" (SC) is not available and there is no "best formula" to follow in transforming each and every city into SC. In a broader inclusive definition, it can be described as an opportunistic concept that enhances harmony between the lives and the environment around those lives perpetually in a city by harnessing the smart technology enabling a comfortable and convenient living ecosystem paving the way towards smarter countries and the smarter planet. SCs are being implemented to combine governors, organisations, institutions, citizens, environment, and emerging technologies in a highly synergistic synchronised ecosystem in order to increase the quality of life (QoL) and enable a more sustainable future for urban life with increasing natural resource constraints. In this study, we analyse how to develop citizen- and resource-centric smarter cities based on the recent SC development initiatives with the successful use cases, future SC development plans, and many other particular SC development solutions. The main features of SC are presented in a framework fuelled by recent technological advancement, particular city requirements and dynamics. This framework - TCitySmartF 1) aims to aspire a platform that seamlessly forges engineering and technology solutions with social dynamics in a new philosophical city automation concept - socio-technical transitions, 2) incorporates many smart evolving components, best practices, and contemporary solutions into a coherent synergistic SC topology, 3) unfolds current and future opportunities in order to adopt smarter, safer and more sustainable urban environments, and 4) demonstrates a variety of insights and orchestrational directions for local governors and private sector about how to transform cities into smarter cities from the technological, social, economic and environmental point of view, particularly by both putting residents and urban dynamics at the forefront of the development with participatory planning and interaction for the robust community- and citizen-tailored services. The framework developed in this paper is aimed to be incorporated into the real-world SC development projects in Lancashire, UK