The potential of collective perception in vehicular ad-hoc networks

Most of today´s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADASs) rely on the data of local perception sensors. With the introduction of Vehicle-2-X (V2X) communication, the perception range of next generation vehicles will be extended even further. As a technology relying on the presence of other communication partners (network effect), any measure of increasing the market penetration rate of the technology should be pursued. This paper introduces the concept of collective perception, which aims at publishing the objects perceived by local perception sensors in addition to the envisioned self-announcement procedure of V2X enabled vehicles. The potential of the concept is studied by employing an holistic Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) simulation with a modular extension for local perception sensors. In the simulation scenarios, V2X enabled vehicles publish themselves along with their locally perceived objects. The findings unveil a significant leverage of the technology, especially in the case of low market penetration rates.