Platooning with DSRC-based IVC-enabled autonomous vehicles: Adding infrared communications for IVC reliability improvement

Platooning with IVC-enabled autonomous vehicles may enable a significant increase in lane capacity, if performed with constant spacing policies. However, to be effective, such system is very demanding with respect to communication performance and reliability. Dedicated short range communications (DSRC) is the prominent intervehicle communication (IVC) technology. However, its reliability rises concerns when operating under platooning scenarios. In this paper we identify some specific problems that platooning pose to DSRC, through the simulation of several scenarios implemented in the NS-3 network simulator. Moreover, we propose a new concept of IVC when applied to platoons, using simultaneously two different communication technologies: DSRC and infrared (IR). New guidelines toward more efficient use of IVC transmission media are suggested, e.g., by broadcasting the event-driven type of messages through DSRC, whereas periodic vehicle control-based messages use the IR channel, in unicast. Furthermore, the base architecture of the IVC proposed system is presented.