Advances in Vehicular Networks

A special issue of Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks (ISSN 2224-2708). This special issue belongs to the section "Network Services and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 41032

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Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Institute of Electronics Information Engineering and Telecommunications, National Research Council, Bologna, Italy
2. Department of Electrical, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Interests: connected vehicles; Internet of vehicles (IoV); relay-assisted communications; visible light communication (VLC); 5G
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Guest Editor
Department of Technology, Federal University of São João Del-Rei (UFSJ), Brazil
Interests: mobile networks; connected vehicles; roadside communication infrastructure

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Guest Editor
Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden
Interests: connected vehicles; Internet of vehicles (IoV); medium access control (MAC) layer protocols; platooning application; 5G; security and privacy; machine learning for communication and fog/edge computing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vehicle-to-anything (V2X) communication is a key asset of the next automation revolution, representing the core of major transformations in society with social, economic, and environmental impacts. Connected vehicles are expected to transform the way we travel and how we live, through the creation of a safe, interoperable wireless communication network among road actors, infrastructure, and objects. Combined with sensor-based technologies, connected vehicles will enhance the performance of automated driving and increase further traffic safety. International consortiums have already agreed on the basic set of applications that need to be implemented to start operating a vehicular network infrastructure at a large scale. Current access technologies, such as IEEE 802.11p or 3GPP LTE-V2X can already succeed in providing challenging new applications, but cannot satisfy all requirements of future applications, since these technologies are designed with the human user in mind; hence, with latency in the order of hundred milliseconds, around 90% of reliability within given ranges, and limited data rates. The fully connected car will require a massive amount of computing power and super-high-speed communications systems such as 5G V2X.

This Special Issue is seeking original contributions on vehicular networks, sharing the research efforts and deployment challenges in this field and discussing challenges, key enabling techniques, unprecedented approaches, and field trails.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Mavì Masini
Dr. Cristiano M. Silva
Dr. Ali Balador
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) as the road to 5G vehicular networks
  • IEEE 802.11px vs. LTE-V2X
  • Hybrid vehicular networks
  • Efficient handling of huge numbers of vehicular users
  • V2V communications for extended network coverage and reduced end-to-end latency
  • V2V networks as fall back solutions in the absence of the infrastructure
  • Resource allocation and optimization for V2X
  • Automotive and telecom industry steps and benefits
  • Connected autonomous vehicles
  • Field operational tests and trials.
  • Blockchain for vehicles
  • Artificial Intelligence applied to smart transportation
  • Strategies for managing vehicular networks
  • Big data in intelligent transportation systems
  • Platooning applications
  • Security and privacy
  • Fog/edge computing for connected vehicles
  • Machine learning and deep learning for intelligent vehicular networks

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 197 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue: Advances in Vehicular Networks
by Barbara M. Masini, Cristiano M. Silva and Ali Balador
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(4), 50; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9040050 - 17 Oct 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1798
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)

Research

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15 pages, 2110 KiB  
Article
Impact of Direction Parameter in Performance of Modified AODV in VANET
by Afsana Ahamed and Hamid Vakilzadian
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(3), 40; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9030040 - 03 Sep 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3351
Abstract
A vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is a technology in which moving cars are used as routers (nodes) to establish a reliable mobile communication network among the vehicles. Some of the drawbacks of the routing protocol, Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), associated [...] Read more.
A vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is a technology in which moving cars are used as routers (nodes) to establish a reliable mobile communication network among the vehicles. Some of the drawbacks of the routing protocol, Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), associated with VANETs are the end-to-end delay and packet loss. We modified the AODV routing protocols to reduce the number of route request (RREQ) and route reply (RREP) messages by adding direction parameters and two-step filtering. The two-step filtering process reduces the number of RREQ and RREP packets, reduces the packet overhead, and helps to select the stable route. In this study, we show the impact of the direction parameter in reducing the end-to-end delay and the packet loss in AODV. The simulation results show a 1.4% reduction in packet loss, an 11% reduction in the end-to-end delay, and an increase in throughput. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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10 pages, 6858 KiB  
Article
Low-Latency VLC System with Fresnel Receiver for I2V ITS Applications
by Tassadaq Nawaz, Marco Seminara, Stefano Caputo, Lorenzo Mucchi and Jacopo Catani
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(3), 35; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9030035 - 22 Jul 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 3520
Abstract
This work presents a characterization of a low-cost, low-latency Visible Light Communication (VLC) prototype for infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication for future Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The system consists of a regular traffic light as a transmitter (the red light is modulated with the information), [...] Read more.
This work presents a characterization of a low-cost, low-latency Visible Light Communication (VLC) prototype for infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication for future Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The system consists of a regular traffic light as a transmitter (the red light is modulated with the information), and a photodetector as a receiver. The latter is equipped with low-cost Fresnel lenses as condensers, namely, 1 Fresnel and 2 Fresnel, to increase the optical gain of the system at the receiver. The system is capable of Active Decode and Relay (ADR) of information to further incoming units. The experimental characterization of amplitude and Packet Error Rate (PER) for the proposed system has been performed for distances up to 50 m. The results show that by incorporating the 2 Fresnel lens in the photodetector, an error free ( PER 10 5 ) I2V communication is established up to 50 m. Furthermore, the prototype can be used for both broadcast and beaconing transmission modes. This low-cost VLC-based system could offer sub-millisecond latency in the full ADR process for distances up to 36 m, which makes it suitable for integration in Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) and 5G platforms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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13 pages, 2630 KiB  
Article
Experimental Measurements of a Joint 5G-VLC Communication for Future Vehicular Networks
by Dania Marabissi, Lorenzo Mucchi, Stefano Caputo, Francesca Nizzi, Tommaso Pecorella, Romano Fantacci, Tassadaq Nawaz, Marco Seminara and Jacopo Catani
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(3), 32; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9030032 - 02 Jul 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 5043
Abstract
One of the main revolutionary features of 5G networks is the ultra-low latency that will enable new services such as those for the future smart vehicles. The 5G technology will be able to support extreme-low latency thanks to new technologies and the wide [...] Read more.
One of the main revolutionary features of 5G networks is the ultra-low latency that will enable new services such as those for the future smart vehicles. The 5G technology will be able to support extreme-low latency thanks to new technologies and the wide flexible architecture that integrates new spectra and access technologies. In particular, visible light communication (VLC) is envisaged as a very promising technology for vehicular communications, since the information provided can flow by using the lights (as traffic-lights and car lights). This paper describes one of the first experiments on the joint use of 5G and VLC networks to provide real-time information to cars. The applications span from road safety to emergency alarm. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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24 pages, 1127 KiB  
Article
Adaptive Probabilistic Flooding for Information Hovering in VANETs
by Andreas Xeros, Taqwa Saeed, Marios Lestas, Maria Andreou, Cristiano M. Silva and Andreas Pitsillides
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(2), 29; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9020029 - 11 Jun 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3082
Abstract
Information hovering is an information dissemination concept over a mobile set of peers which has not been investigated to the extent that other information dissemination paradigms have. It naturally appears in many vehicular network applications where information must be made available to vehicles [...] Read more.
Information hovering is an information dissemination concept over a mobile set of peers which has not been investigated to the extent that other information dissemination paradigms have. It naturally appears in many vehicular network applications where information must be made available to vehicles within a confined geographical area for during some time period. One elementary strategy is to flood the area with data. Even in this case, some vehicles may never receive the content due to potential partitions created by low traffic density. In order to address this issue, in this work we propose a strategy based on epidemic routing in the hovering area, and probabilistic flooding outside it. Vehicles outside the hovering area serve as bridges towards partitions, leading to high reachability. We highlight the adaptive feature of the protocol, where the rebroadcast probability in partitions is adaptively regulated based on estimates of the density of vehicles in the hovering area. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated in VISSIM, using as the reference model in all simulation experiments a section of the road network in cities of Washington. The proposed protocol is shown to achieve the set design goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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18 pages, 877 KiB  
Article
Diagnosing Automotive Damper Defects Using Convolutional Neural Networks and Electronic Stability Control Sensor Signals
by Thomas Zehelein, Thomas Hemmert-Pottmann and Markus Lienkamp
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(1), 8; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9010008 - 16 Jan 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4692
Abstract
Chassis system components such as dampers have a significant impact on vehicle stability, driving safety, and driving comfort. Therefore, monitoring and diagnosing the defects of these components is necessary. Currently, this task is based on the driver’s perception of component defects in series [...] Read more.
Chassis system components such as dampers have a significant impact on vehicle stability, driving safety, and driving comfort. Therefore, monitoring and diagnosing the defects of these components is necessary. Currently, this task is based on the driver’s perception of component defects in series production vehicles, even though model-based approaches in the literature exist. As we observe an increased availability of data in modern vehicles and advances in the field of deep learning, this paper deals with the analysis of the performance of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for the diagnosis of automotive damper defects. To ensure a broad applicability of the generated diagnosis system, only signals of a classic Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system, such as wheel speeds, longitudinal and lateral vehicle acceleration, and yaw rate, were used. A structured analysis of data pre-processing and CNN configuration parameters were investigated in terms of the defect detection result. The results show that simple Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) pre-processing and configuration parameters resulting in small networks are sufficient for a high defect detection rate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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10 pages, 591 KiB  
Article
V2X Communications Applied to Safety of Pedestrians and Vehicles
by Fabio Arena, Giovanni Pau and Alessandro Severino
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(1), 3; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9010003 - 27 Dec 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 7980
Abstract
Connected cars and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication scenarios are attracting more researchers. There will be numerous possibilities offered by V2X in the future. For instance, in the case of vehicles that move in a column, they could react to the braking of those in [...] Read more.
Connected cars and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication scenarios are attracting more researchers. There will be numerous possibilities offered by V2X in the future. For instance, in the case of vehicles that move in a column, they could react to the braking of those in front of it through the rapid information exchanges, and most chain collisions could be avoided. V2X will be desiderated for routes optimizations, travel time reductions, and accident rate decrease in cases such as communication with infrastructures, traffic information exchanges, functioning of traffic lights, possible situations of danger, and the presence of construction sites or traffic jams. Furthermore, there could be massive conversations between smartphones and vehicles performing real-time dialogues. It is relatively reasonable to expect a connection system in which a pedestrian can report its position to all surrounding vehicles. Regarding this, it is compelling to perceive the positive effects of the driver being aware of the presence of pedestrians when vehicles are moving on the roads. This paper introduces the concepts for the development of a solution based on V2X communications aimed at vehicle and pedestrian safety. A potential system architecture for the development of a real system, concerning the safety of vehicles and pedestrians, is suggested to draft some guidelines that could be followed in new applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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14 pages, 399 KiB  
Article
Scalable Edge Computing Deployment for Reliable Service Provisioning in Vehicular Networks
by Federico Tonini, Bahare M. Khorsandi, Elisabetta Amato and Carla Raffaelli
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2019, 8(4), 51; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan8040051 - 02 Oct 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5223
Abstract
The global connected cars market is growing rapidly. Novel services will be offered to vehicles, many of them requiring low-latency and high-reliability networking solutions. The Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) paradigm, thanks to the centralization and virtualization of baseband functions, offers numerous advantages [...] Read more.
The global connected cars market is growing rapidly. Novel services will be offered to vehicles, many of them requiring low-latency and high-reliability networking solutions. The Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) paradigm, thanks to the centralization and virtualization of baseband functions, offers numerous advantages in terms of costs and mobile radio performance. C-RAN can be deployed in conjunction with a Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) infrastructure, bringing services close to vehicles supporting time-critical applications. However, a massive deployment of computational resources at the edge may be costly, especially when reliability requirements demand deployment of redundant resources. In this context, cost optimization based on integer linear programming may result in being too complex when the number of involved nodes is more than a few tens. This paper proposes a scalable approach for C-RAN and MEC computational resource deployment with protection against single-edge node failure. A two-step hybrid model is proposed to alleviate the computational complexity of the integer programming model when edge computing resources are located in physical nodes. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid strategy in finding optimal or near-optimal solutions with different network sizes and with affordable computational effort. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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Review

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18 pages, 2156 KiB  
Review
The Use of Meta-Surfaces in Vehicular Networks
by Barbara M. Masini, Cristiano M. Silva and Ali Balador
J. Sens. Actuator Netw. 2020, 9(1), 15; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jsan9010015 - 02 Mar 2020
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 5612
Abstract
Mobility as a service is becoming a new paradigm in the direction of travel planning on the basis of the best service offered by the travelled roads. Hence, the environment in which people move will become smarter and more and more connected to [...] Read more.
Mobility as a service is becoming a new paradigm in the direction of travel planning on the basis of the best service offered by the travelled roads. Hence, the environment in which people move will become smarter and more and more connected to grant services along the whole path. This opens new challenges related not only to the on board connectivity and wireless access technologies, but also on the reliability and efficiency of the surrounding environment. In this context, reconfigurable meta-surfaces play a crucial role, since they can be used to coat buildings, vehicles or any other suitable surfaces and let the environment become an active part of the communication system by opportunistically redirecting (i.e., reflecting, without generating new waves) signals to the target receivers. The objective of this paper is to highlight the limits of current wireless access technologies for vehicular scenarios and to discuss the potential impact of a smart environment made of reconfigurable meta-surfaces on some next generation vehicular use cases, such as cooperative driving and vulnerable road users (VRUs) detection. In addition, a preliminary model is presented to derive, in a simplified way, the performance of an IEEE 802.11p network in terms of collision probability. Even if analytical and based on simplified assumptions, this model has been validated through simulations and allows to compare the performance of the network with and without reconfigurable meta-surfaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vehicular Networks)
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