An Adaptive On-Demand Channel Estimation for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Various vehicular communication technologies have been proposed to provide reliable and seamless wireless communications. Short-range vehicular communications can be established using IEEE 802.11p, and the range of these protocols can be extended using mobile multi-hop ad hoc networks. To provide consistent quality of service (QoS) with maximum achievable transmission rate, many algorithms assume that the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the receiver is known, or can be obtained by modifying protocols. In this paper, we present an efficient on-demand adaptive channel estimation technique. Using simple UDP messages without changing protocols, the estimator predicts the SNR with minimum signaling overheads. Extensive experiments in vehicular environments along the I-85 highway and residential areas in Atlanta, Georgia reinforce that the proposed algorithm is efficient and reliable channel estimation technique for next generation wireless mobile networks.