The value of communication and infrastructure for automated carsProfessor Robert W. Heath Jr., PhD, PE

Wireless Networking and Communications GroupDepartment of Electrical and Computer EngineeringThe University of Texas at Austin

www.profheath.org

Thanks to sponsors including the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Data-Supported Transportation Operations and Planning (D-STOP) Tier 1 University Transportation Center, the Texas Department of Transportation under Project 0-6877 entitled “Communications and Radar- Supported Transportation Operations and Planning (CAR-STOP)”, National Instruments, and Toyota IDC

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Automated vehicles

Fullyself-driving automation

LEVEL 4

Driver providesdestination

Driver not available for control

Limited/FullSelf driving cars

Driver can cedecontrol over a primary function (eg. ACC)Responsible for safe operation

Full driver control at alltimes

Diver can cede full control of all safety-critical functions

Driver does not have to monitor the roadway at all times

LEVEL 3

Limitedself-driving automation

LEVEL 2

Combinedfunction

automation

LEVEL 1

Function specific

automation

LEVEL 0

No automation

Driver can cedecontrol on at least two primary functions

Driver responsible for monitoring the roadway

NHTSA, “Preliminary Statement of Policy Concerning Automated Vehicles”, 2013

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Myths surrounding automated vehicles

Automated vehicles can be fully autonomous, no communication is required

MYTH 1

Infrastructure has no value for automated vehicles

MYTH 2

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Limited range of vehicular sensing (ideal)

Car with a driver

Radar can see 200 meters

Drivers can see 3000 meters

Cameras can see30 meters

Lidar can see 100 meters

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Limited range of vehicular sensing (in traffic)

Radar can see 3-5 meters

Drivers can see 3-5 meters

Cameras can see3-5 meters

Lidar can see 3-5 meters

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How is this solved in aviation?

Show airplane flying Show airplane flying into clouds

Air traffic control tower

Radar tower

Combination of communication, sensing, and infrastructure

Air-to-air commun.

A2A

Airport trafficcontrol tower

Transponder

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Separation between aircraft for collision

avoidance

Fly through weather with limited or no

visibility

Access to restricted airspace, faster routes,

more flight options

Full automation is not required, though

automated flying using 2D and 3D autopilots using inertial guidance

or GPS is common

Benefits of communication and sensing

Image source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2548628/

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Do all aircraft really exploit comm. and sensing?

Flies instrument flight rules (IFR)

o Access to restricted airspaceo Faster routes and more flight optionso Ground based radar can track VFR and

IFR aircraft

Flies under visual flight rules (VFR)

o Less flexible travel, limited airspaceo Need to carefully monitor weathero Recreational form of travel

No!

Takeaway #1: Communication is usefulExpand the sensing range of

the vehicle

Higher levels of traffic coordination like platooning

Allows interactions between vehicles with

different automation levels

More informed safety decisions

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Takeaway #2: Infrastructure is valuable

Effective with non-connected cars, bicycles, and pedestrians

Can be used for other functions, for example

more precise navigation

Supports sensing of the environment, does not require

all cars to have complete sensing equipment

Helps coordinate traffic through intersections, eliminating lights

!

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Ex: Passing on rural roads

What if the bus or oncoming car do not have communication capability?

82% of head-on fatal collisions take place in

rural areas

Radar requires line-of-sight

Both communication and radar are useful for collision avoidance

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Ex: Passing on rural roads

Infrastructure has enhanced sensing, better communication range

Infrastructure w/ sensing can broadcast position, velocity, and acceleration of

vehicles

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# of collisions with correct warning

# of safe maneuvers with incorrect warning

# of safe maneuvers with received warning message

V2V - DSRC 2,545 113 349

V2I with 200m spacing 3,482 322 1097

V2I with 500m spacing 3,436 288 985

Benefits of comm. and sensing at infrastructure

Infrastructure can provide much better collision warning capability

Alice Chu, Michael Motro, Junil Choi, Abdul Rawoof Pinjari, Chandra R. Bhat, Joydeep Ghosh, and R. W. Heath, Jr., ``Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) Simulations Of Overtaking Maneuvers On Two-Lane Rural Highways,'' submitted February 2016.

3,593 collisions 1,097 safe maneuvers

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Other benefits of sensing & infrastructure

* J. Choi, N. González Prelcic, R. Daniels, C. R. Bhat, and R. W. Heath, Jr., `` Millimeter Wave Vehicular Communication to Support Massive Automotive Sensing,'' submitted to IEEE Communications Magazine, February 2016. Also available on ArXiv.** N. Gonzalez-Prelcic, Roi Mendez-Rial, and R. W. Heath Jr., ”Radar aided beamforming in mmWave V2I communications support antenna diversity," ITA 2016 .

BS supportingV2X

antennas

Radar operating in another band Radar at the infrastructure

can help predict blockages

Improves communication link efficiency and reduces overheads

What can we expect of smart cities in the future?

15http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures

RESTRICTED LANES

RURAL AREA

DENSE URBAN AREA

DENSE SUBURBAN AREA

Class B Road SpaceLevel 4 automation and full communication only Automated-only

lane

Class C Road SpaceLevel 3 automation and full communication only

Class G Road SpaceNo automation or communication requirementMust use communication equipment if available