Virtual Traffic Signals by Cooperation among Vehicle-Mounted Mobile Computers

A traffic signal at an intersection avoids collisions among vehicles whose lines of flow have a point of intersection. Though it provides a safe driving environment, it requires high configuration and maintenance cost and overhead. In order for their avoidance and/or reduction, this paper proposes a novel method for virtual traffic signals realized by cooperation among vehicle-mounted mobile wireless computers. Here, the red signal information is initiated based on mobility information, i.e., velocity, acceleration and location, of vehicles approaching an intersection. These vehicle- mounted computers cooperate by adhoc IVC (Inter-Vehicle Communication) for initiation, distribution and update of the red signal information. This paper shows a required wireless transmission range of the vehicle-mounted computers and an ad-hoc wireless communication protocol among them for the virtual traffic signals.