Millimeter-Wave Vehicular Communication to Support Massive Automotive Sensing

Abstract

Abstract-As driving becomes more automated, vehicles are being equipped with more sensors generating even higher data rates. Radars (RAdio Detection and Ranging) are used for object detection, visual cameras as virtual mirrors, and LIDARs (LIght Detection and Ranging) for generating high resolution depth associated range maps, all to enhance the safety and efficiency of driving. Connected vehicles can use wireless communication to exchange sensor data, allowing them to enlarge their sensing range and improve automated driving functions. Unfortunately, conventional technologies, such as dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) and 4G cellular communication, do not support the gigabit-per-second data rates that would be required for raw sensor data exchange between vehicles. This paper makes the case that millimeter wave (mmWave) communication is the only viable approach for high bandwidth connected vehicles. The motivations and challenges associated with using mmWave for vehicle-tovehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure applications are highlighted. A high-level solution to one key challenge -the overhead of mmWave beam training -is proposed. The critical feature of this solution is to leverage information derived from the sensors or DSRC as side information for the mmWave communication link configuration. Examples and simulation results show that the beam alignment overhead can be reduced by using position information obtained from DSRC.

Where, When, and How mmWave is Used in 5G and Beyond

“…Even though the final values depend on the resolution of the actual HD map, an estimation of 1 Gbps appears reasonable as a typical data rate requirement for exchanging HD map information via V2V/V2X links. Indeed, mmWave seems to be the only means to provide such high data rates to vehicles [72].…”

“…The beams can come from antennas with a small form factor, due to the small wavelength in mmWave bands [31]. One challenge in this system might be the antenna beam alignment between OBUs and RSUs, however [71], [72] show the feasibility of using mmWave in vehicular scenarios. The system coexists with the conventional V2X system [59], which supports cloud-based services such as traffic jam forecast and long-range traffic navigation.…”

“…First, it becomes easier to monitor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians who are not equipped with V2X technology. Second, sensing information can be used to aid in establishing the mmWave communication link [72]. For example, an RSU mounted radar unit may be used to help track potential recipients of a mmWave communication exchange, thus reducing the beam alignment time [73].…”

Robust full-dimension MIMO transmission based on limited feedback angular-domain CSIT

“…Another interesting deployment scenario is multi-user multiplexing in large indoor open spaces, e.g., within stadiums, airport terminals, shopping malls, where high-ceiling-mounted small cells and remote radio heads can provide LOS connectivity to users. Furthermore of interest are vehicular communication scenarios on highways and motorways, where FD-MIMO beamforming can be employed for multi-user transmission between road-side access points and vehicles as described in [45]. Notice also that channel fading models that contain only two dominant specular components in addition to weak diffuse background scattering, such as the two-wave diffuse power (TWDP), generalized tworay (GRT), and fluctuating two-ray (FRT) fading models [46][47][48][49][50], are well suited to capture the behavior of channel measurements conducted in the millimeter wave band [49,51], suggesting that millimeter wave transmissions are in many cases well characterized by few specular components.…”

Millimeter Wave Vehicular Communications: A Survey

“…The large spectral channels at millimeter wave (mmWave) bands make it a promising candidate to realize high data rates [108,22]. One major barrier to deploying mmWave was the device cost.…”