White Paper

VEHICLE TO VEHICLE COMMUNICATION FOR

CRASH AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS

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Copyright 2016 eInfochips. All rights reserved

The copyright to this document is owned by eInfochips. No part of this doc-

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otherwise, without prior written permission.
 Vehicle To Vehicle Communication for Crash Avoidance Systems

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Concept of Vehicle-To-Vehicle Communication

In recent years, as an instance of vehicular ad-hoc network, the telematics integrating the utility of telecommunications
and informatics has dramatically promoted the development of wireless communications in vehicular environment,
intelligent transportation system, and automotive electronics industry. The further extension of WAVE (Wireless
Access in Vehicular Environments) technology is dedicated short range communication (DSRC). These networks are
characterized by rapidly changing topologies and shorter connection lifetime, and one of the most essential goals
of the emerging DSRC based V2V communication standards is to enable road safety applications that can save
thousands of lives. Safety-related applications are primarily geared toward avoiding the risk of car accidents such
as cooperative collision warning, lane change, emergency vehicle approaching warning, pre-crash sensing, traffic
violation warning.

These applications all have real-time constraints, which always rely on single or multi-hop V2V communications.
Moreover, the quality of vehicle safety applications smoothly degrades with the increase in packet loss and delays in
vehicular wireless communications. Especially, timely warning messages transmitted by a braking or slowly moving
vehicle enable approaching traffic to take appropriate actions such as slowing down and changing lanes, much earlier
than is possible, thereby reducing the chance of crashes or chain collisions. The strict performance for delivery delay
and reliability of V2V communication systems with DSRC should be imposed to meet the requirements of traffic safety
applications..

Figure 1: Vehicles communicating each other with

their own ad-hoc networks

In vehicular communication network types, the transferred information contains warning messages and traffic
information. Vehicular communication systems are effective in decreasing the accidents and traffic congestion. Due to
the importance of road safety in recent years, the research on Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication is increasing.
IEEE 802.11p defines an international standard for wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE). Generally
wireless access in vehicular environments contains two different types of networking which are V2V and V2I, vehicular

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communications I categorized as a part of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). In addition, Vehicular communication
networks will offer a wide range of applications such as traffic management, road conditions.

The Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) is a combination of three networks: an inter-vehicle network, an intra-vehicle network,
and vehicular ad-hoc network. Based on this concept of three networks combined to form one, we define Vehicle-
to-Vehicle as a large-scale distributed system for wireless communication and information exchange between
surrounding vehicles according to agreed communication protocols and data interaction standards. It is an integrated
network for supporting intelligent traffic management, intelligent information service, and intelligent vehicle control,
representing a typical application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in intelligent transportation system (ITS).
To succeed in this emerging market, acquisition of core technologies and standards will be important. However,
the integration of the V2V with other infrastructures should be as important as the building of the V2V technologies
themselves. As a consequence of this, the V2V will become an integral part of the largest Internet of Things (IoT)
infrastructure by its completion.

Figure 2: Trajectory Prediction in V2V

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1.2 Opportunities and Challenges of V2V

The research and development, as well as the industrial application of V2V technologies will lead the integration of
automotive and information technology. The integrated information services of vehicles, vehicle safety, and economic
performance will contribute to a more intelligent urban transportation system development. The V2V will impact on
the consumer vehicle market, consumer lifestyle, and even modes of behavior. The future V2V market will see rapid
growth in the Asian-Pacific region. McKinsey Global Institute has reported by June 2013 that the Internet of Things
(IoT) has the potential to launch around $6.2 trillion in new global economic value annually by 2025. 80 to 100 percent
of all manufacturers will apply IoT technology by then, leading to potential economic impact of $2.3 trillion for the
global manufacturing industry. According to the data on APEC website, the member countries share approximate 55
percent of world GDP. In other words, APEC members will be growing by $3.42 trillion in GDP and manufacturers of
the economies will embrace $1.27 trillion growth in the meanwhile.

The application of V2V technology in providing information services, improving traffic efficiency, enhancing traffic
safety, implementing supervision and control and other aspects will make millions of people enjoy more comfortable,
convenient and safe traffic service. Large concentrations of vehicles, e.g., in city parking facilities during business
hours, can also provide the ad-hoc computational resources which will be of interest to those in the IT fields.
Complementary efforts should be made for developing and enhancing middle-ware platforms which will enable
analytic and semantic processing of data coming from vehicles. Lack of coordination and communication is the
biggest challenge to V2V implementation. Lack of standards make effective V2V (vehicle to vehicle) communication
and connection difficult and prohibits ease in scaling. Only by adopting open standards can the current, closed and
one-way systems, be integrated into an effective system for the smooth sharing of information. Dreams of intelligent
transportation and even automatic drive systems can come true through an effective V2V. Both technological
innovation and business model innovation in the Internet era depend on partnering across traditional boundaries.
While maintaining a plan for improving products, services and experiences, we should make joint efforts to break
barriers, stay open and inclusive, and to build a healthy and sustainable ecosystem. Efforts should be made to
promote the application of V2V and relevant technologies in automobiles, transportation, finance and insurance.

Progress towards ubiquitous V2V systems will need to be conducted in stages, starting with low-risk, simple
implementations, and learning from these to plan and design wider systemic deployments. For example, computer-
augmented control of vehicle movements and collision avoidance systems would be tested and improved in closed
environments, such as warehouses, then implemented more widely between specialized driver less vehicles on some
targeted roads, before wide deployment to public and private transport for entire cities. Data linkages would start
with basic information exchange, such as traffic information or number of vehicles in the vicinity, passenger numbers,
locations or travel routes, before progressing to two-way communication, active traffic management and external
control over functions of vehicle. The data sets generated by operational V2V systems will be rich and diverse, and
will constitute a valuable resource in their own right. For this, the data has to be considered not as a consumable or
disposable to meet immediate needs of V2V users, but as an accumulating economic and scientific resource, with
many potential future users. Such massive data sets can provide a basis for research in many other disciplines, not only
for the development of V2V systems, or the monitoring and management of vehicles, traffic, road systems and their
economic impacts or industrial development.

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1.3 V2V Technology Products

Cohdas technology integrates wireless communications to quality levels far beyond commercial off-the-shelf IEEE
802.11p transceivers, which allows cars to more potentially see through obstacles or around corners. Autotalks has
V2X solutions in forms of integrated SoCs combining processing, RF and GNSS components. NXP, as leading global
supplier of car radio semiconductors and security chips, brings its software-defined radio (SDR) platform and ensures
more improved parameters such as industry-ready data security, cost efficiency, form factor, power consumption,
and performance. Together, Cisco, NXP, and Cohda plan to develop a complete ready to market solution for the
automotive industry. Cohda wireless is one of the leading Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) use both
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, and thus a combined system called V2X -
to enable cooperation between vehicles and road infrastructure in order to get improvements in the areas of safety,
mobility, and the environment. The aim of Cooperative-ITS is to create wireless communications links between smart
vehicles and between these vehicles and smart roads, in order to allow them to communicate with each other and so
avoid accidents, reduce congestion and be more efficient. V2X Connected Vehicles will use several types of wireless
connectivity for the transmission of safety messages e.g. cellular, Wi-Fi, or DSRC.

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2 V2V IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS

2.1 The Basic Safety Message

The Basic Safety Message is the primary message set to send data between vehicles. While the BSM is mainly
developed for safety applications, the data in the message may also be used by other connected vehicle applications,
such as mobility, weather, etc. Additional messages from vehicles or from the infrastructure may also be created in the
future.

The second version of the standard SAE J2735 is published in November 2009, which is very recent. It specifies 15
message sets, with Basic Safety Message the most important one. As explained above, the BSM is used to exchange
safety data regarding state of vehicle. The message is broadcasted commonly to surrounding vehicles with a variety
of data content. The BSM is categorized into two parts to guarantee that the core information for vehicle safety (Part
I) has priority and is transmitted more often. It also minimizes the amount of data communicated (most of the time)
between devices, helping to reduce channel congestion. [1]

BSM Part I contains the core data elements, such as vehicle position, speed, heading, brake system status, and vehicle
size. Details of the BSM Part I contents are found in Table 1.

BSM Part I
Data Frame (DF) Data Element (DE)
Latitude
Elevation
Longitude
Positional accuracy
Motion (DF)
Transmission state
Speed
Steering wheel angle
Heading
Longitudinal acceleration
Vertical acceleration
Lateral acceleration
Yaw rate
Brake applied status
Traction control state
Stability control status
Auxiliary brake status
Brake status not available
Antilock brake status
Brake boost applied
Vehicle size (DF)
Vehicle width
Vehicle length

Table 1: Contents of BSM Part I [1]

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2.2 Wireless Access Technologies

The suitability of various wireless access standards to support VANET applications including infotainment applications
are compared in terms of Bandwidth, Signal coverage, Signal Interference, Accessibility, Maintenance, Upfront
cost and Security. The data transmission rate determines the amount of data transmitted between the ends of
communication at a time. Infotainment applications such as large data transfers, video chat, needs more bandwidth.
Signal coverage which determines the service area is essential for the deployment of specific standard. It is measured
using signal strength and propagation path loss caused by factors like multipath propagation, reflection, absorption
and diffraction. Signal interference decreases coverage range and throughput. Accessibility determines the number of
simultaneous data transmission of multiple users so as to improve bandwidth utilization. Maintenance deals with the
life of network whereas upfront cost covers the total costs of acquisition. The last parameter addresses how wireless
standard protect communications over a shared wireless medium. Based on these parameters a comparison of various
available wireless standards is shown in the following table 2.

Table 2: Comparison of Wireless Access

Technologies

Based on the comparison, DSRC/WAVE is considered to be best suited for Safety critical application.

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2.3 Technology Implementation

To generate and send a Basic Safety Message, a device must know its own position (such as via a GPS antenna and
receiver). Once its position is known, the device needs a computer processing unit that can take its location and can
combine it with other on board sensors (e.g., speed, heading, acceleration, breaking) to generate the required BSM
data string. Once the BSM is generated, a device needs to transmit this message wirelessly to another vehicle. As
the on board processor is generating the BSM, a security module is processing and preparing the security information
and certificates for transmission to provide the receiving vehicle assurance that the message is valid. This security
information needs to be transmitted wirelessly as well. To receive and interpret a BSM, a device must be capable of
receiving the BSM that is transmitted from a nearby device and it must match the method of BSM transmission (i.e.,
if the message is transmitted via RF, the receiving device must have a RF receiver). It also must have an assembly that
can decode the BSM properly. A GPS antenna and receiver is needed to verify the relative distance between the
sending device and the receiving device. The BSMs follow SAE J2735 standard frame structure. SAE J2735 is intended
to address the purpose so that all V2V safety applications are built around a common framework. SAE J2735 defines
the design specifications for the safety messages, including specifications for the message sets, data frames, and data
elements. Lastly, the device that is receiving the BSM must also have a security module that is capable of receiving
and processing the security credential information as well.

Figure 3. Block Diagram of V2V Communication

Assembly

For transfer of BSMs, a secured and reliable communication medium is necessary. There are many communication
networks available for VANETS. These communication standards transfer packets of data without the use of any
deployed infrastructure.

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2.4 Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC)

Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC/IEEE 802.11p) was exclusively developed to meet the requirements
of VANETs such as self-organizing, self-configuring, high mobility and dynamic topology. DSRC works using a 75MHz
spectrum in 5.9 GHz frequency band in US whereas in Europe and Japan it operates on 30MHz spectrum in the 5.8
GHz band. It can provide services to both V2V and V2I up to 1km and supports data rate of up to 27Mbps. As shown in
the Figure 4 the spectrum comprises a 5MHz guard band, one 10MHz Control Channel (CCH) and six 10 MHz Service
Channels (SCHs).

Figure 4. DSRC Channels

In DSRC, On Board Units (OBU) communicate using either 802.11p or Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment
(WAVE) standard. Usually DSRC and WAVE term are used interchangeably. The notable differences are that DSRC
includes IEEE 802.11p, an amendment of 802.11a MAC and PHY whereas WAVE standard focused on the upper layers.
Furthermore, DSRC can use the WAVE Short Message Protocol (WSMP) to support V2V and V2I safety applications.
The following Figure 5 shows the Layered architecture of DSRC. The MAC Layer is divided into two layers: MAC sub
layer and Logical Link Control (LLC). The MAC sub layer allows Stations (STAs) to share the spectrum more effectively
and uses IEEEP1609.3 standard to support multi-channel operations of DSRC by extending MAC functions. LLC uses
802.2 along with Sub Network Access Protocol (SNAP) to provide services required by higher layers including 1609.3.
Based on the requirements of VANET applications, the Network and Transport Layer uses protocols such as IPv6, TCP,
UDP and WSMP to facilitate wireless connectivity. Typically, it uses WAVE Short Message Protocol (WSMP) for single
hop transmissions and the remaining protocols for supporting multihop transmissions. Its architecture can support
both safety and non safety applications using WSMP and TCP/IPV6 respectively. The P1609.3 standard provides
networking services and defines WSMP and WAVE Service Advertisement (WSA). The application layer comprises
applications and some other to support inter operability among the safety applications.

IEEE P1609.1 - Resource Manager

IEEE P1609.2 - Security Services for Applications and
Management Messages
IEEE P1609.3 - Networking Services
IEEE P1609.4 - Multi-channel Operations

DSRC is widely and chiefly used for road safety

applications due to its reliability, secure data
transmission and low latency. DSRC standard is still a
draft because of some technical issues that need to

Figure 5. DSRC Architecture be addressed before the full adaption for VANETs. It
has been observed that the current specification of
DSRC performs poorly in high density and mobility
conditions. Protecting safety related and application messages against abuses is another issue in DSRC. . DSRC is
mostly used for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) in various countries such as Italy and Germany.

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3 PROJECT OVERVIEW
At eInfochips, we have tested a prototype implementation of a complete vehicle to vehicle communication, designed
according to the BSM I specification SAE J2735. The purpose of this project is to prove feasibility of V2V to improve
safety of transportation systems. Road safety can be enhanced by the deployment of wireless communication
technologies for vehicular networks, which activates new services such as collision prediction, traffic management and
further communication facilities between nearby moving vehicles. In addition to this a blind spot detection system for
protection against vehicle collisions is being implemented. The blind spot detection system is useful while changing
the lanes.

The activities were performed in following key milestones

Design of path prediction algorithm and use cases of V2V communication
Testing of hardware modules
Interfacing the required hardware with the embedded platform
Scripting for standard message frame structure SAE J2735
Integration of scripts to form a single software module

3.1 Hardware Architecture of V2V Prototype

The block diagram of V2V communication is as shown in figure 1. GPS module provides information about speed,
location of vehicle, and path of the vehicle to the On Board Unit (OBU). WE have implemented a prototype of
V2V communication system in which, we have chosen raspberry pi as an on board unit, which processes the data
provided by GPS. It generates the safety messages depending on the position of the vehicles. The safety messages
are transmitted and received by RF transceiver module as depicted in Fig.1. Basic safety messages are displayed on
the display unit. In general, two sets of components are needed for V2V communication to operate. The first set of
components are those required for a device to transmit an accurate and trusted basic safety message and the second
are the components needed for a device to receive and interpret a BSM transmitted from another entity.

Figure 6. Hardware Architecture

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Figure 7. System Implementation

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References
Harding, J., Powell, G., R., Yoon, R., Fikentscher, J., Doyle, C., Sade, D., Lukuc, M., Simons, J., & Wang, J. (2014,
August). Vehicle-to-vehicle communications: Readiness of V2V technology for application. (Report No. DOT HS
812 014). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Daniel Jiang, Vikas Taliwal, Andreas Meier, Wieland Holfelder, Ralf Herrtwich Design of 5.9 GHz DSRC-based
Vehicular Safety Communication.
Task Group, IEEE 802.11p Wireless Access for Vehicular Environments Draft Standard,
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/11/
Cohda white paper http://cohdawireless.com/WhyCohda/Whitepapers.aspx
AutoTalks press release http://www.auto-talks.com/company/press-releases/

About authors
Dr Mangesh Kale is Senior Solution Architect and Key Accounts Manager at eInfochips. He has industry experience
of more than 16 years in engineering, technology design and solutions in safety critical control systems hardware
and software. Mangesh leads the aerospace practice group at eInfochips with responsibility of new client project
acquisitions and managing research and development initiatives. Mangesh has a PhD from The University of
Southampton, UK in flight control systems, Masters of Engineering from Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and
Bachelors of Engineering from University of Pune, India.

Narayani Ghatwai is a trainee engineer at einfochips. Her areas of interest includes Embedded Systems and
Automotive advancements and applications. She is pursuing her Masters degree in VLSI and Embedded Systems
from University of Pune. She has done Bachelors degree in Electronics and Telecommunication engineering from
RTMNU Nagpur.

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About eInfochips
eInfochips is a product engineering and software R&D services company with over 20 years of experience, 500+
product developments, and over 10M deployments in 130 countries across the world. Today, 60% of our revenues
come from Fortune 500 companies and 80% from solutions around connected devices. From silicon to embedded
systems to software, from deployment to sustenance, we map the journey of our customers. We have the expertise
and experience to deliver complex, critical, and connected products across multiple domains, for projects as small as
a one-time app development to a complete turnkey product design. We continuously invest and fuel innovations in
the areas of Product Engineering, Device Lifecycle Management, IoT & Cloud Frameworks, Intelligent Automation,
and Video Management.