C2CCC WP 2098 IEEE 802.11bd TheV2XEvolution V1.0
C2CCC WP 2098 IEEE 802.11bd TheV2XEvolution V1.0
C2CCC WP 2098 IEEE 802.11bd TheV2XEvolution V1.0
Disclaimer
The present document has been developed within the CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium and might be further
elaborated within the CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium. The CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium and its
members accept no liability for any use of this document and other documents from the CAR 2 CAR Communication
Consortium for implementation. CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium documents should be obtained directly from
the CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium.
Copyright Notification: No part may be reproduced except as authorized by written permission. The copyright and the
foregoing restriction extend to reproduction in all media. © 2023, CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 1 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Document information
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 2 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 3 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Content
About the C2C-CC........................................................................................................................ 1
Disclaimer ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Document information .................................................................................................................. 2
Changes since last version ......................................................................................................... 3
Content ........................................................................................................................................... 4
List of figures ................................................................................................................................. 5
List of tables .................................................................................................................................. 6
Definitions ...................................................................................................................................... 7
Abbreviations................................................................................................................................. 8
1 Executive summary ............................................................................................................. 10
2 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 11
3 History of 802.11-based short range communications .................................................. 13
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 13
Existing deployments .................................................................................................. 13
IEEE 802.11bd standards development ................................................................... 13
Seamless evolution of IEEE 802.11p to IEEE 802.11bd ....................................... 15
Backwards compatibility by design ........................................................................... 16
Co-Channel coexistence by design .......................................................................... 17
Fairness by design ....................................................................................................... 18
Interoperability by design ............................................................................................ 18
4 IEEE 802.11bd technical features .................................................................................... 20
Overview........................................................................................................................ 20
Modulation..................................................................................................................... 21
Signal structure ............................................................................................................ 21
Channel coding ............................................................................................................ 21
Channel estimation and tracking ............................................................................... 22
Adaptive repetitions ..................................................................................................... 23
MIMO ............................................................................................................................. 25
Range extension and robustness .............................................................................. 25
Fully backward compatible 20 MHz channel arrangement ................................... 26
MAC layer capabilities ............................................................................................. 26
Enhanced ranging for positioning support ............................................................ 27
Summary ................................................................................................................... 29
5 IEEE 802.11bd for ITS-G5 ................................................................................................. 30
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 30
Access Layer ................................................................................................................ 30
Positioning and time (POTI) ....................................................................................... 30
Multichannel operation (MCO) ................................................................................... 31
Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 31
MCO FAC ........................................................................................................................................ 31
MCO Access ................................................................................................................................... 31
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 32
6 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 33
Annex A – References ............................................................................................................... 34
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 4 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
List of figures
Figure 1: IEEE 802.11bd as evolution of IEEE 802.11p ...................................................... 14
Figure 2: IEEE 802.11bd frame format with IEEE 802.11p preamble, repeated SIG and
new DATA symbols .................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 3: Interaction between existing ETSI ITS-G5 based IEEE 802.11p vehicles and
enhanced ETSI ITS-G5 based on IEEE 802.11bd vehicles ................................................ 16
Figure 4: Backwards compatibility operation.......................................................................... 17
Figure 5: Coexistence by design with common preamble ................................................... 17
Figure 6: Fairness by design with the CSMA/CA channel access procedure .................. 18
Figure 7: Channel coding enhancements of IEEE 802.11bd .............................................. 22
Figure 8: Preamble-based vs midamble-based channel estimation .................................. 23
Figure 9: Adaptive repetitions: exemplary PER performance gain under AWGN with 1
repetition ...................................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 10: Adaptive repetitions: exemplary PER performance gain under
HighwayNonLOS with 3 repetitions ......................................................................................... 24
Figure 11: Adaptive repetitions: control schemes ................................................................. 25
Figure 12: 20 MHz channel arrangement based on two 10 MHz channels ...................... 26
Figure 13: Differential distance computation based on non-TB measurement exchange:
Observed parameters by a PSTA ............................................................................................ 28
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 5 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
List of tables
Table 1: Changes since last version.......................................................................................... 3
Table 2: Toolbox of technical advances of IEEE 802.11bd[ER-2] compared to IEEE
802.11p[ER-1] ............................................................................................................................. 20
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 6 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Definitions
Existing actively in use
Similar Something that behaves, acts and/or looks almost the same
Fairness Ability of all devices (both IEEE 802.11p and NGV) to have
the same opportunities to access the channel
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 7 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Abbreviations
11p IEEE 802.11p
11bd IEEE 802.11bd
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project (https://www.3gpp.org)
4G fourth Generation of broadband cellular network technology
5G fifth Generation of broadband cellular network technology
ACL Adjacent Channel Leakage
ACLR Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio
ACR Adjacent Channel Rejection
ACS Adjacent Channel Selectivity
AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise
BCC Binary Convolutional Coding
BPSK Binary Phase-Shift Keying modulation
BSS Basic Service Set
CAM Cooperative Awareness Message
CBR Channel Busy Ratio
C-ITS Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems
CPS Collective Perception Service
CSMA/CA Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance
DCM Dual Carrier Modulation
e.i.r.p. Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
FEC Forward Error Correction
FTM Fine Timing Measurement
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite Systems
I2R Ista-to-Rsta
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
ISTA Initiating STAtion
ITS Intelligent Transport Systems
ITS-S Intelligent Transport Systems Station
LDPC Low Density Parity Check
LLR Log-Likelihood Ratio
LMR Location Measurement Report
LTE Long Term Evolution (standard for wireless broadband
communication)
LTF Long Training Field
MAC Medium Access Control
MCO Multi-Channel Operation
MCS Maneuver Cooperation Service
MIMO Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
NAV Network allocation vector
NDP Null Data PPDU
NDPA Null Data PPDU Announcement
NGP Next Generation Positioning
NGV Next Generation V2X
NLOS Non-Line-Of Sight
Non-TB Non-Trigger Based
OCB Outside the Context of a BSS
PSTA Passive (observing) STAtion
PASN Pre-Association Security Negotiation
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 8 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 9 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
1 Executive summary
This White Paper describes the enhanced technical access layer features of the new
IEEE 802.11bd amendment to the IEEE 802.11-2020 standard, also known as Next
Generation V2X (NGV). IEEE 802.11bd is the evolutionary enhancement of the existing
IEEE 802.11p amendment, which became part of the IEEE 802.11-2020 standard and is
the access layer basis for the ITS-G5 set of ETSI standards. In this paper the focus will
be the full access layer backward compatibility and co-channel interoperability capability
of the new IEEE 802.11bd specification including the integration of the new capabilities
into the set of ETSI ITS-G5 standards.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 10 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
2 Introduction
This White Paper presents the key improvements of Next Generation V2X (NGV), which
is standardized in the amendment IEEE 802.11bd of the Wireless LAN standard. It
focuses on the physical layer enhancements, as well as on the seamless transition that it
allows from IEEE 802.11p based systems like ETSI ITS-G5, thereby leveraging all the
already-existing deployments and roll-outs.
Technical advances include an extended more efficient physical layer that is able to
transmit IEEE 802.11p based waveforms and new “NGV” frames, improving the quality
of the communication and the transmission range. For robust low data-rate applications,
new forward-error-correction codes combined with midambles yields 2-3 dB of
improvement, while advanced features such as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or
high-order modulation enable high-data-rate applications.
IEEE 802.11bd allows a smooth and gradual transition from IEEE 802.11p based systems
thanks to the evolutionary nature, with coexistence and backward compatibility being key
requirements for this new standard. It allows existing IEEE 802.11p and new IEEE
802.11bd (NGV) stations to interoperate. This makes it possible to benefit from
innovations and at the same make full use of an installed base of existing systems.
The analysis in this whitepaper shows that
• Existing deployments in vehicles will continue operation when NGV is deployed
• Investments in ITS-G5 and DSRC road infrastructure are safeguarded
• Advanced use cases are supported without hindering or abandoning existing
deployments.
• NGV will not increase the demand for more spectrum.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 11 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
o Each NGV station will set an NGV capability indicator when it sends IEEE
802.11p based PPDUs so that neighbouring NGV stations can detect that
it is an NGV station. That information can then be used by the NGV
neighbours to intelligently control their transmissions so that they either use
IEEE 802.11p based format or a NGV format depending on the intended
recipient(s). The radio environment status report provides information to
upper layers about the total number of neighbours and the subset of
neighbours that are NGV stations. This information can be used for different
interoperability strategies.
• Interoperability: Full co-channel access layer interoperability achieved thanks to
the capability of the IEEE 802.11bd stations to transmit and receive IEEE 802.11p
PPDUs.
In this White paper, the potential impact including the possible interoperability strategies
onto the ITS-G5 set of standards in ETSI will be presented. This interoperability strategy
is based on the multi-channel operation concept developed in ETSI [ER-4].
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 12 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Introduction
In 2010, the IEEE took an important step to enable direct, short range vehicular
communication, with the publication of the Wireless Access for Vehicular Environments
(WAVE) amendment of the widely deployed IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network
standard. The amendment, formally IEEE Std 802.11p-2010, introduced a new ad hoc
type of communication called “outside the context of a Basic Service Set” (OCB) that does
not need the usual coordination by an Access Point. OCB is the key to enabling extremely
low latency (< 1ms) and high reliability communication for moving vehicles.
IEEE 802.11p became the basis for the ITS-G5 access layer standard, which was
developed by ETSI in response to a standardization mandate of the European
Commission “to support the interoperability of co-operative systems for intelligent
transport in the European Community”.
IEEE 802.11p is also the basis of DSRC in the US. Extensive testing in Europe, the U.S.,
and other regions, has demonstrated the ability of IEEE 802.11p-based systems to
support a wide range of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) use cases for road safety, improved
traffic efficiency, reduced emissions, and support of automated driving. These systems
have been deployed in Europe, the U.S., and Japan.
Existing deployments
ITS-G5 based systems for road safety related applications are deployed in Europe on the
vehicular and infrastructure side.
By the end of 2022, in Europe already 20’000 km of roads are covered by road-side units
(RSUs) based on ITS-G5 [ER-10] and almost 1 Million vehicles [ER-11] are equipped with
ITS-G5 onboard units based on the ETSI ITS-G5 set of standard.
It can be assumed that these deployment figures will further increase in the next years.
In March 2018, an IEEE Study Group named Next Generation V2X (NGV) was formed to
work on an amendment to the IEEE standard for enhanced V2X communication
technologies. In December 2018, the IEEE-SA approved this project creating a Task
Group with the goal of producing IEEE 802.11bd [ER-2], a seamless evolution path for
IEEE-based V2X communications.
This amendment targets higher spectral efficiency, increased reliability, and extended
range, while ensuring backwards compatibility with the existing deployed systems in the
5.9 GHz ITS band. The latter is an essential element for IEEE 802.11bd[ER-2] to provide
a seamless evolution path from IEEE 802.11p [ER-1]. IEEE 802.11bd based devices can
receive transmissions from any IEEE 802.11p device and can transmit in a way that IEEE
802.11p devices can receive and decode. With these capabilities of IEEE 802.11bd [ER-
2], today’s investments in IEEE 802.11p based technologies are fully protected. IEEE
802.11p can continue to be deployed today, since future implementations with IEEE
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 13 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
802.11bd based devices can be seamlessly introduced, fully benefitting from existing
802.11p deployed vehicular and infrastructure ITS stations.
IEEE has a proven track record of seamless evolution through their releases of key
amendments such as IEEE 802.11a/g/n/ac/ax [ER-1]. By contrast to the IEEE evolution
approach, a disruptive introduction of a technology incompatible with IEEE 802.11p would
undermine and discourage the investments that are needed today for the society to
realize the potential of direct V2X communication and might permanently prevent
interoperability among major automotive stakeholders (vehicle manufacturers and road
authorities).
The goal of faster and more reliable communication recognizes that IEEE has developed
even more advanced capabilities in recent years, for example in the IEEE 802.11ac (60
GHz) and IEEE 802.11ax amendments. Some of these advanced capabilities are not yet
available for OCB communication or in the 10 MHz channels that have been chosen to
optimize vehicular communication. IEEE 802.11bd will specify these capabilities for OCB
and for 10 MHz channels.
IEEE 802.11bd will introduce additional improvements, such as specific capability for
ranging (distance measurements), a 20 MHz channelization option fully backward
compatible to the 10 MHz IEEE 802.11p channels and an operational mode in the 60 GHz
band, which is partly allocated in Europe for the use in ITS (63.72-65.88 GHz [ER-5]),
based on the DMG/EDMG OCB feature.
A future ITS system based on ETSI ITS-G5 and the addition of IEEE 802.11bd features
will lead to enhancements in the ITS-G5 access layer. The new features of IEEE
802.11bd as part of ITS-G5 will be controlled and provided to the ITS applications by the
multi-channel operation (MCO) specified in ETSI.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 14 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Seamless adoption and deployment will start as soon as IEEE 802.11bd is fully
standardized and tested. The fundamental aspects of this gradual and smooth transition
are:
• No disruption to existing systems;
• No need for dedicated spectrum resources (no fragmentation);
• Support for IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 802.11bd with a single modem.
IEEE 802.11bd allows a smooth transition from existing (IEEE 802.11p-based) systems
like ETSI ITS-G5 to the newer standard that can be seen as an enhanced ETSI ITS-G5.
It capitalizes on existing IEEE 802.11p deployments and infrastructure investments
throughout the world by using the same frequency channel in co-channel operation
without causing any disruption to existing C-ITS stations. Interoperability in IEEE
802.11bd is achieved using a compatible waveform structure as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: IEEE 802.11bd frame format with IEEE 802.11p preamble, repeated SIG and new DATA
symbols
This frame format supports a common channel access mechanism across existing and
enhanced systems where all messages are transmitted following the same “listen-before-
talk” (LBT) principle and use the same carrier sensing mechanism. The asynchronous
and non-persistent type of V2X messages fit very well to typical V2X networks, where
messages (such as ITS-G5 cooperative awareness messages, CAMs) are very diverse
and non-persistent in terms of message size and transmission rate, since the
mechanisms triggering the message generation are tightly coupled to the dynamics of the
vehicle (as change in position, speed and/or heading).
When an enhanced C-ITS station based on enhanced ETSI ITS-G5 and IEEE 802.11bd
access layer detects the presence of IEEE 802.11p based stations based on ITS-G5 in
its vicinity, all safety-related day one messages will be transmitted using the IEEE
802.11p based access layer, so that the existing stations can decode the content of the
messages. When no IEEE 802.11p based stations are detected, transmitted messages
could use the full potential of IEEE 802.11bd and its increased performance. This
operation is shown in Figure 3.
In all cases the packets transmitted using the IEEE 802.11bd format will be detectable by
the existing stations due to the use of the same preamble as depicted in Figure 2. An
existing station can consider the enhanced packets in the CSMA/CA channel access
mechanism even without the capability of decoding the content of the IEEE 802.11bd
data-fields.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 15 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Mixed environment of IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 802.11bd (NGV) Environment with only IEEE 802.11bd (NGV) vehicles
Figure 3: Interaction between existing ETSI ITS-G5 based IEEE 802.11p vehicles and enhanced
ETSI ITS-G5 based on IEEE 802.11bd vehicles
In the MCO defined in ETSI [ER-4] the capabilities of an ITS-G5 access layer using IEEE
802.11bd features will be offered to the applications. The MCO facilities entity will control
the usage of the corresponding access layer technology capabilities based on the request
by the application, the available resources, and the technology in use by the neighbouring
stations. The use of the new features can be limited to a set of applications which are
specified to only use the new features in the ITS-G5 access layer or can be flexibly
deployed based on the visible peer communication systems as depicted in Figure 3. The
switch between the existing features and the enhanced features in a single channel can
be performed on a message-by-message base by choosing the corresponding access
layer instantiation (ALI).
Backwards compatibility is a key requirement from the start for IEEE 802.11bd definition
[ER-16]. It builds on the concepts of coexistence and interoperability which describes the
ability for IEEE 802.11bd-based stations to understand the nature of the other stations in
their vicinity and adapt their transmission type accordingly.
As illustrated in Figure 4 IEEE 802.11bd stations can transmit in both NGV or IEEE
802.11p format. Typically, these transitions between NGV and IEEE 802.11p formats are
based on local measurements and set of rules specified by the regional regulators or
standardization organizations like CEPT or ETSI.
IEEE 802.11bd defines MAC SAP interface to allow upper layer to choose between NGV
and IEEE 802.11p format based on the existence or percentage of IEEE 802.11p stations
in the neighbourhood.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 16 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Coexistence between IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 802.11bd within the same frequency
channel is at the heart of the IEEE 802.11 evolutionary concept and is achieved by having
the newer waveforms packets starting with the same sequence as used by the existing
implementations based on IEEE 802.11p. This ensures
✓ IEEE 802.11p devices to be able to detect IEEE 802.11bd based on IEEE 802.11p
format and NGV transmissions;
✓ IEEE 802.11p devices can identify presence of packets, derive their duration (from
L-SIG info) and defer transmission to avoid collisions.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 17 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Fairness by design
Interoperability by design
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 18 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
In addition to this access layer interoperability the higher layers of an ITS-G5 system
support an interoperability up to an application level. The required integration of the
enhanced features of IEEE 802.11bd capable access layer is performed by the MCO
controlled in the facilities layer.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 19 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Overview
Several improvements have been introduced by IEEE 802.11bd at the physical layer.
Most of them pertaining to the NGV mode of transmission.
Some, however, also apply to the devices using the IEEE 802.11p format. These include
more stringent requirements on selectivity, sensitivity, and out-of-band emissions for an
optimized MCO, as well as the introduction of repetitions on the access layer. The
enhancements are summarized in Table 2.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 20 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer can increase the throughput by up to
a factor of 3 or the range by up to a factor of 3 with a lower channel tracking
complexity as compared to IEEE 802.11p.
Modulation
The NGV mode of IEEE 802.11bd physical layer provides additional modulation and
coding scheme options compared to IEEE 802.11p.
On the low-data rate side, the “BPSK-DCM 1/2” modulation and coding scheme is
intended for use cases and applications requiring very low sensitivity. On the high-data
rate side, 256-QAM modulation has been added and is available with coding rates of ¾
or 5/6. The latter allows up to 39 Mbit/s in a single 10 MHz channel for very short
communication links, which is a potential enhancement of up to 44% compared to the 64-
QAM as defined in IEEE 802.11p.
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer can support higher order modulation
up to 256-QAM with coding rates down to R = 5/6 which leads to a data rate increase
of 44% as compared to IEEE 802.11p.
Signal structure
The NGV mode of IEEE 802.11bd physical layer is based on the same subcarrier spacing
as IEEE 802.11p (156.25 kHz) but defines 56 subcarriers compared to 52 (48 for the data
and 4 for channel tracking) in IEEE 802.11p. In other words, IEEE 802.11bd uses a larger
fraction of the channel (e.g., 8.75 MHz out of a 10 MHz channel, compared to the 8.125
MHz used by IEEE 802.11p).
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer signal structure increases the
throughput and the spectrum efficiency by 8% without changing the MCS as
compared to IEEE 802.11p.
Channel coding
One of the most important improvements in the physical layer of the NGV mode is the
use of Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) forward error-correction coding (FEC). LDPC
has been introduced in IEEE 802.11n and offers increased spectral efficiency compared
to the Binary Convolutional Code (BCC) scheme used in IEEE 802.11p. As such, LDPC
has also been adopted in a wide range of wireless standards, including 3GPP 5G due to
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 21 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
For the IEEE 802.11bd NGV mode three different codeword block lengths are defined for
each available coding rate, i.e., 648, 1296, and 1944. LDPC has been demonstrated to
be 2-3 dB more robust than convolutional codes, as illustrated by Figure 7.
Statement:
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer channel coding based on LDPC codes
can provide up to 3dB SNR gain as compared to the CC used in IEEE 802.11p.
The main difference between a state-of-the-art IEEE 802.11p and a common Wi-Fi (IEEE
802.11a) receiver is the ability of the former to operate under high mobility conditions with
relative speeds of 500 km/h or higher [ER-12]. This is possible using enhanced channel
tracking mechanisms and involves advanced signal processing algorithms for estimating
the rapidly changing wireless channel conditions in mobile environments.
In IEEE 802.11bd a new scheme is introduced for the NGV mode, which embeds known
reference symbols (midambles) in-between the data symbols. The midamble symbols
allow updating the estimate of the wireless channel conditions in mobile environments
also during packet transmissions, simplifying the receiver design at a cost of lower
efficiency. The difference between a preamble- and a midamble-based channel
estimation is depicted in Figure 8.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 22 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
The midamble uses the same format as the NGV-LTF and three different periodicities are
possible: one midamble every 4, 8 or 16 symbols. The overall midamble parameterization
is indicated in the NGV-SIG. The NGV-LTF is an enhanced version of the LTF used in
IEEE 802.11p and may include 1 or 2 symbols depending on the number of MIMO spatial
streams.
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer supporting midamble channel
estimation reduces the complexity of the channel tracking as compared to IEEE
802.11p based systems using iterative approaches.
Adaptive repetitions
Repetition of messages improves both IEEE 802.11p & NGV transmission formats of
IEEE 802.11bd and provides performance gain for IEEE 802.11bd as well as for IEEE
802.11p stations.
✓ Initial PPDU and repetitions can be combined by IEEE 802.11bd stations, either
when sent in IEEE 802.11p format or new NGV format:
• Combining at LLR (log-likelihood ratio) level using weighted soft-values of the
received symbols is the recommended technique, but others are possible.
• With 1 repetition: 0.5-0.8 dB improvement for IEEE 802.11p stations and 3-4 dB
improvement for IEEE 802.11bd stations;
• With 3 repetitions: 1.0-1.7 dB improvement for IEEE 802.11p stations and 6-8 dB
improvement for IEEE 802.11bd stations.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 23 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Figure 9: Adaptive repetitions: exemplary PER performance gain under AWGN with 1 repetition
Figure 10: Adaptive repetitions: exemplary PER performance gain under HighwayNonLOS with 3
repetitions
The number of repetitions can be gradually increased as the occupancy of the channel
goes down. In congested environment (high CBR), retransmissions are disabled.
Exemplary schemes (defined at upper layers, such as in 1609 or ETSI ITS-G5 standards)
for controlling the number of repetitions are hard or soft steps [ER-13] as depicted in
Figure 11.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 24 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
verage number
of repetitions
Figure 11: Adaptive repetitions: control schemes
In ETSI ITS-G5 the control of the number of repetitions can be performed by the MCO
entity of the facilities layer.
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer repetition scheme adds an additional
flexible feature to increase the robustness and range of future ITS-G5 systems
when required by the application.
MIMO
Support for MIMO technology is also specified in IEEE 802.11bd offering a potential gain
in unicast transmissions of 2 times higher throughput. This operational mode is not
intended for the broadcast operation.
For specific peer-to-peer operations the new IEEE 802.11bd specific access MIMO
feature can increase the throughput by a factor of 2 as compared to non-MIMO
systems.
Combining the available features can lead to a range improvement of more than a factor
of 2, up to a factor of 3 in case of a non-congested channel where sufficient resources
are available to deploy DCM and repetition.
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer capabilities will increase the possible
robust communication range by more than 100% as compared to IEEE 802.11p.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 25 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
The IEEE 802.11bd 20 MHz operation utilizes two adjacent 10 MHz channels to achieve
higher throughput. These two adjacent 10 MHz channels can simultaneously be utilized
as a 20 MHz channel, or as independent 10 MHz channels, thus maintaining backward
compatibility with 10 MHz operation. This technique is sometimes referred to as 'channel
bonding'.
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer capabilities will have a fully backward
compatible mode where two independent 10 MHz channels are aggregated to allow
a higher data rate when required by the application. This mode is fully interoperable
with the 10 MHz operation.
IEEE 802.11bd also introduces changes at medium access control (MAC) level like the
indication of next-generation capabilities (in the duration/ID field of the MAC header) and
unicast communication in Outside the Context of a BSS (OCB) mode:
• Mandatory support for extended MAC service interface to provide higher layers
with the ability to control NGV transmissions and receive status regarding NGV
receptions and the radio environment, fully backwards compatible with 10 MHz
IEEE 802.11p;
• Mandatory support for fully backward compatible 20 MHz channel access with 10
MHz primary and 10 MHz secondary channel;
• Mandatory support for NGV capability indication for non-NGV PPDUs encoded in
the Duration/ID field of the MAC header;
• Mandatory support for reception of frame aggregation when communicating OCB;
• Optional support for transmission of frame aggregation when communicating OCB.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 26 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific MAC layer extension facilitates the identification
of NGV frames and unicast operation in OCB mode.
Today we heavily rely on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) in road transport.
Due to the large distance between transmitting satellites and GNSS receiver
(approximately 20 000 km), the GNSS signals are very weak and easily disturbed by
interference. Moreover, GNSS signals suffer from multipath propagation in cities due to
high-rise buildings. Finally, in parking garages, underground, or in tunnels the GNSS
signals cannot be received. Thus, land-based alternative position, navigation, and timing
services are important to augment GNSS for safety-of-live applications. With this aim, the
IEEE 802.11bd also includes the definition of procedures for at least one form of
positioning in conjunction with V2X communications.
Thus, IEEE 802.11bd specified NGV ranging, which is a subset of the Fine Timing
Measurement (FTM) procedures in IEEE 802.11az Enhanced Positioning. NGV ranging
provides at least one of the following functions:
The benefit of NGV non-TB ranging is that an NGV equipped vehicle can determine its
distance relative to another NGV equipped vehicle within 1 millisecond and its position
within 3 milliseconds relative to 3 NGV RSUs. Clearly, this fast non-TB ranging exchange
is crucial for the vehicular environment. For example, a car driving at 100 km/h just moves
18 cm during the position determination with three RSUs.
Another benefit of the fast, non-TB ranging exchange is that the 3 milliseconds to position
a vehicle relative to three RSUs would still allow the vehicle to send one CAM message
with 350 bytes length during the 𝑇𝑂N period in conformance to [ER-3].
Furthermore, NGV stations can use differential distance computation using the non-TB
ranging frame exchange between two NGV STAs, e.g., RSUs. With this method the
observing or passive station (PSTA), records the TOA 𝑡p1 , when it receives the NDP 1
from the ISTA, and TOA 𝑡p2 , when it receives the NDP 2 from the RSTA.
The differential distance between ISTA, RSTA, and PSTA can then be computed as
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 27 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
where 𝑇𝐼𝑃 = 𝑡𝑝1 − 𝑡1 denotes the time of flight (TOF) between ISTA and PSTA and 𝑇𝑅𝑃 =
𝑡𝑝2 − 𝑡3 denotes the TOF between RSTA and PSTA. In order to calculate the TOFs 𝑇𝐼𝑃
and 𝑇𝑅𝑃 , the PSTA needs to receive the TODs 𝑡1 and 𝑡3 contained in the R2I and I2R
LMRs. Alternative the differential distance can be computed by
Figure 13: Differential distance computation based on non-TB measurement exchange: Observed
parameters by a PSTA
(𝑡 −𝑡 )−(𝑡 −𝑡 )
where we used 𝑑 = 𝑐𝑇𝐼𝑅 = 𝑐 4 1 2 3 2 . Comparing lines 2 and 4 in the above equation,
the main difference is that in line 2 the TODs 𝑡1 and 𝑡3 are in different clock bases
compared to line 4 where the time differences 𝑡𝑝1 − 𝑡𝑝2 and 𝑡1 − 𝑡4 are all in the same
clock base. Thus line 4 can remove any constant clock biases between ISTA and RSTA
compared to line 2. Further, the last line of the above equation also shows a differential
distance relative to the base line distance 𝑑 between ISTA and RSTA. Hence, this method
has the name differential distance computation.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 28 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
When comparing non-TB ranging and differential distance computation using non-TB
ranging, we can make the following observations:
For each non-TB ranging exchange, we need to transmit at least 4 frames and 5 frames
if the RSTA would like to compute the distance to the ISTA. If we have 3 RSUs and 𝑁an
arbitrary number of vehicles can position themselves relative to three RSUs in 3
milliseconds reducing the communications overhead tremendously.
Finally, an NGV station can use FTM procedures outside the 5.9 GHz frequency band if
co-located with a station that supports FTM functionalities based on 802.11 and its
amendment IEEE 802.11az Enhanced Positioning. The benefit in this scenario is that the
IEEE 802.11 stations will use separate unlicensed frequency bands, e.g. at 5 GHz or 6
GHz allowing for bandwidth of 80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz. The large bandwidths
compared to the 10 or 20 MHz bandwidths in the 5.9 GHz ITS frequency band will provide
a significant accuracy gain for the FTM ranging procedures, e.g. by a factor of 4 to 32. At
the same time, the FTM ranging exchange does not require any further spectrum
resources in the 5.9 GHz ITS frequency band after initiating the FTM ranging exchange
via the NGV station. Moreover, the specific FTM ranging implementation may supports
security features such as pre-association security negotiation (PASN) or others that
ensure that the measurement exchange is executed with the intended peer. The most
likely use cases for an NGV station co-located with a station supporting an FTM
procedure are localizing equipped vehicle underground or in parking garages, e.g. for
automated valet parking, or transitions from indoor to outdoor.
The capability discovery and negotiation procedures for NGV ranging could be
implemented through the position and time (POTI) services and the MCO capabilities.
The new IEEE 802.11bd positioning features will open up a broad range of possible
application for future ITS-G5 implementations.
Summary
In this section the main technical features and capabilities of IEEE 802.11bd have been
presented. These enhanced features can significantly extend the capabilities of an ITS-
G5 stations and applications in a fully co-channel backwards compatible and
interoperable manner. The control of the new features and capabilities will be done by
the MCO operation in an ITS-G5 system considering the requirements of the applications
and the actual environmental conditions in the vicinity of the ITS station.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 29 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Introduction
The IEEE 802.11bd amendment to the IEEE 802.11-2020 standard will provide a set of
new features which can be integrated into the overall ETSI ITS-G5 protocol stack to result
in an enhanced ETSI ITS-G5 system. Some of the envisaged enhanced applications
under specification or investigation like CPS[ER-8] and cooperative manoeuvring
application [ER-9] can significantly benefit from the new capabilities of an access layer
based on IEEE 802.11bd.
In this clause some of the identified interrelationships and the corresponding potential
implications onto upcoming releases of the ETSI ITS-G5 protocol will be depicted.
Especially the co-channel access layer interoperability features fully supported by the
multichannel operation specified for ITS-G5 are of utmost importance for the support of a
stable C-ITS communication environment and eco-system.
Access Layer
The ITS-G5 access layer supporting IEEE 802.11bd will have some additional elements
to be implemented. The main elements here are related to the modulation and coding
scheme mainly the channel coding based on LDPC and the higher order modulation
capability up to 256QAM. Furthermore, the MIMO operation of the IEEE 802.11bd
enabled ITS-G5 system must be specified into the access layer specification.
Furthermore, the MAC layer extensions including the repetition features need to be
specified.
The newITS-G5 access layer capabilities will be specified in an updated version of the
EN 302 663 [ER-3]. These new capabilities can be seen as an extension of the available
toolbox in support of the different requirements of the ITS applications.
The new IEEE 802.11bd specific access layer capabilities will add additional
features to the existing toolbox including additional higher performance
transmission formats staying fully backward compatible with existing devices.
The facilities functionality for “Position and Time” is specified in ETSI EN ETSI EN 302
890-2 [ER-14]. This functionality is mainly based on the GNSS positioning features. IEEE
802.11bd now provides some additional cooperative location and positioning features that
could enhance the stability and robustness of the existing PoTi features especially in
cases where GNSS is temporarily not available. Furthermore, the cooperative approach
integrated into IEEE 802.11bd can be used to extend the PoTi features and will allow a
cooperative time synchronization among devices where or when GNSS is unavailable.
This would allow to implement an alternative positioning, navigation and timing service to
GNSS.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 30 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
The multichannel operation specified in ETSI is the basis for the smooth introduction of
the fully backward compatible IEEE 802.11bd enhancements into the ITS-G5 Release 2
set of specifications. Especially the facilities layer MCO operations are important for the
control of the channel access based on the requirements of the applications, the available
transmission resources, and the conditions in the vicinity.
The MCO operation in ITS-G5 Release 2 can control the channel access technology and
the related parameters on an application by application and a message-by-message
basis. Depending on the application requirements and requests and the known
capabilities of the ITS stations in the surrounding communication cluster the MCO
facilities will provide the corresponding resources (frequency channel, technology, access
parameter, TX power) to the requesting applications. This mechanism fully supports the
fair co-channel interoperability between existing devices only deploying IEEE 802.11p
based access layer and enhanced devices supporting the IEEE 802.11bd access layers
including IEEE 802.11p and NGV features.
All information related to the deployed technologies in the communication cluster are
available at the MCO facilities routing entity.
MCO FAC
MCO Facilities layer functionalities are essential for the operation of a fully backward
compatible and interoperable ITS-G5 system deploying existing stations without NGV
capabilities and stations with a full support NGV in IEEE 802.11bd. The MCO FAC will
have to monitor the characteristics of the ITS stations participating in the communication
and will have to take these into account in the access layer control operation. Based on
the actual situation of participating stations the MCO FAC controls the usage of the
different available access layers or access layer features for each of the active
applications (see Figure 3).
The existing MCO FAC specified in ETSI TS 103 141 [ER-15] already provides a set of
hooks to implement this functionality.
The details will have to be specified in an updated version of the TS.
The actual MCO FAC in TS 103 141 and the related MCO specifications in ETSI
already provides the basic functionalities to control the backward compatible
interoperability of existing ITS-G5 stations and ITS-G5 stations with NGV
capabilities.
MCO Access
The MCO functionalities of an IEEE 802.11bd enabled access layer will provide the new
capabilities to the higher layer MCO control entities in the facilities layer. From the basic
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 31 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
operational point of view the new capabilities are an extension of the existing access layer
capabilities. The use of these extensions by specific applications or set of applications
will be possible in the same operational channel. Different applications can deploy the
enhanced NGV capabilities, other might rely on the basic capabilities provided by the
IEEE 802.11p based access layer capabilities. The choice of used capabilities can be
switched from frame to frame and is controlled by the MCO Facilities entity.
In a mixed operational environment where Release 1 devices (which only support IEEE
802.11p capabilities) and Release 2 devices (also with support for IEEE 802.11bd) are
operated simultaneously, the choice of the capabilities will also rely on the actual
deployment scenario in the vicinity, and thus the corresponding interoperability
requirements given by the used applications. In this case all applications which must
interoperate with IEEE 802.11p only devices will have a limited set of access layer
capabilities available. Applications with no such interoperability requirements can still use
the complete set of capabilities.
More details related to the available capabilities are included in the ETSI TS 103 695 [ER-
6].
The actual MCO Access specified in ETSI TS 103 695 provides the mechanisms for
an easy integration and control of an IEEE 802.11bd capable access layer into the
ITS-G5 protocol stack.
Summary
The new capabilities available in IEEE 802.11bd must be included into the ETSI ITS-G5
Release 2 set of specifications. The main points to be considered and updated are the
access layer and the facilities layer specifications. The basic control functionality to
handle the new capabilities and the co-channel interoperability between IEEE 802.11p
based devices and IEEE 802.1bd devices is defined in the stet of MCO specifications
[ER-4].
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 32 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
6 Conclusions
The IEEE 802.11bd standard is an evolutionary extension of the existing IEEE 802.11p
as part of the IEEE 802.11-20 standard. It adds significant building blocks to enhance the
performance and flexibility of the access layer used in European ETSI ITS-G5 and U.S.
DSRC V2X systems. It is fully backward compatible and interoperable with the existing
implementations of IEEE 802.11p as part of ETSI ITS-G5 or IEEE DSRC WAVE. The
extension can use the same channels without penalizing the performance of existing
IEEE 802.11p based devices. IEEE 802.11p communication format is already supporting
all the envisaged C-ITS applications of the C2C-CC roadmap up to highly automated
driving, while the IEEE 802.11bd can further improve the capabilities of existing as well
as future devices and applications whilst providing some additional resources.
The newly added building blocks in IEEE 802.11bd extend the existing toolbox of IEEE
802.11p by adding features that can increase the robustness, the communication range
of the access layer, and can increase the available data rates in support of upcoming
applications in cooperative ITS systems like Collective Perception Service (CPS) [ER-8]
and Manoeuvre Cooperation Service (MCS) [ER-9] applications.
All investments performed today in deploying IEEE 802.11p (and ITS-G5) will also be
available for IEEE 802.11bd. Furthermore, some improvements can be applied directly to
existing IEEE 802.11p based systems and benefit the already deployed stations.
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 33 of 34
CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
Annex A – References
■ End of Document ■
C2CCC_WP_2098_IEEE_802.11bd_
TheV2XEvolution.doc 02/02/2023 Page 34 of 34