Mobile Computing and Inter-Vehicle Communication - Essay Example

Running head: Mobile Computing and Inter Vehicle Communication Mobile Computing This paperwill examine the implementation of mobile computing technology and the inter vehicle communication in the automotive industry. The formation of various ad-hoc networks and their protocols would be explained after which a case study of the applications is carried out. The later sections will deal with a survey on the computers present in the vehicles and their user interfaces. Mobile Communications Introduction The advances in mobile computing and communication technology have made it possible today to equip each and every vehicle with equipment that has high computing and communication capability. As a key component of Intelligent Transportation Systems Inter Vehicle Communication (IVC) is one of the major applications of mobile computing. A large amount of research has been carried out by academia and the industry alike in this field. IVC enables each and every high speed automobile to send, receive and forward packets amongst each other by dynamically forming mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETS). The information is transferred, distributed and acquired over this network. The vehicle to vehicle communication (V2V) enables the drivers and their vehicles to communicate with other vehicles that may not be in direct line of sight or in a multi hop network with vehicles that are even out of their radio range. Another form of communication that can be carried out by these vehicles is road to vehicle communication (RVC). This provides the vehicles access to static networks. IVC and RVC have diverse applications, like upstream traffic information to avoid road congestion to collision warnings. This paper gives an overview of the implementation of mobile computing technology in the automotive sector. It starts with explaining the types of vehicle to vehicle ad-hoc networks and their peculiarities, and then it gives an outline of the present and future applications. The later sections discuss the types of processors and the user interfaces being used by the automotive industry to implement mobile computing applications. Vehicle to vehicle ad-hoc networks Ad-hoc networks are self organizing networks, where each node (an automobile which is equipped with the communication device) can act as an originator, receiver or a router for the messages being transmitted over these networks. These ad-hoc networks which are used in the automobile industry have certain specific characteristics that differentiate them from other such networks.(Tian 2002) They have high mobility as vehicles are the nodes of these networks, these results in a dynamic changing topology of the network. They can be often of a very large scale with the node density varying greatly from the urban traffic to a highway traffic environment. The mobile network nodes often have power constraints but due to ample space and power available on the automobile platform these mobile nodes have no such major restrictions. The other considerations in respect of network propagation which have to be borne in mind is that the movement of the nodes are primarily restricted to one dimension along the road geometry and the motion of these nodes can affect latency of the message delivery.(Chen 2001) Traditional routing protocols used on the mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) can be divided into two major categories; the single path and the multi path routing. Single path protocols such as DSDV are table driven and require the nodes to exchange information about their location. This information helps each node to update the routing tables being maintained at each node. This requires the nodes to constantly send out messages giving out their latest locations as per their change in location. In IVC based networks due to very high speeds of the nodes the topological changes of the network is very high and hence routing table driven protocols may not scale up to their requirements. The other set of protocols are the on demand protocols such as AODV (Charles 2003) They explore a path to the destination node only when it is required. The number of control packets sent to find a path and then to constantly ensure that the path still exists, increases the overheads on the network considerably. To overcome such issues special routing protocols have been developed for MANET. A Cluster Based Location Routing (CBLR) protocol is one such example. It is a reactive protocol which has properties of hierarchal routing algorithms. It acquires the location of a node only when it is needed. It employs GPS services to provide location information and minimizes the numbers of control packets by using special nodes to retransmit the messages. These special nodes retransmit the messages only between the clusters (Johnson 2003). Another such algorithm is an intelligent flooding based protocol. Here the packet is flooded in the network till it reaches the destination node. A mechanism to cancel the redundant retransmissions is also inbuilt in the message packet. Flooding is a good option in such dynamic conditions as it can follow any available path for message delivery. Moreover it can cut down communication cost by not utilizing GPS and GSM services. Case Study of Applications The various applications of IVC and RVC can be broadly divided in two main categories. The security oriented applications and the consumer oriented applications. The security applications include incident warning, collision warning and avoidance, cooperative driving, platooning and urban traffic Control. On the other hand the consumer oriented applications could be informational or recreational in nature for example traffic congestion information, own location finder, route directions, diagnostic data and other streaming video and multimedia services. Many projects have been initiated in the past few years to undertake research and development of applications of vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communication. CarTalk2000, Fleetnet, DynaMIT, Invent and Car-2-Car are a few examples of such initiatives taken by industry and academia jointly in the European Union and the USA. CarTalk2000 is a European Commission funded project that started in Aug 2001. It focuses on development of driver assistance systems and development of a self organising ad-hoc radio network as a communication basis with the aim of preparing a future standard. The three main applications of CarTalk are Information and warning function Communication based longitudinal control and cooperative assistance systems. Early warning and longitudinal control are some of the most important applications that can result in saving human life during times of accidents. Though IVC can ensure transmission of early warning signals to all neighboring vehicles in cases of sudden braking etc but the real challenge is to decrease the latency in delivering these messages. (Reichardt 2000). The Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) consortium is defining short to medium range communication services that support public safety in IVC. The collision warning signals received can initiate the safety procedures such as reducing the speed of the vehicle and take other precautionary actions in situations where the driver is unable to see the impending disaster due to obstruction in the line of sight or bad weather conditions. However there are many factors, like, channel fading, packet collisions, and communication obstacles that can prevent messages from being correctly delivered in time. In addition, ad hoc networks formed by nearby vehicles are quite different from traditional ad hoc networks due to high mobility of vehicles. To overcome these issues specific protocols are being implemented to improve road safety. These protocols control the delivery of messages in high vehicle density situations for example a cascading accident on a motorway where congestion control policies would have to be implemented to incorporate a large number of abnormally behaving vehicles, all sending the emergency signals. These protocols would also ensure elimination of redundant retransmissions of warning signals in addition to their prime responsibility of reducing the latency of message delivery. An application of vehicle to roadside communication is urban traffic control (UTC) systems. An intelligent traffic light controller could be contacted before your actual arrival at the junction so that the light can be turned green at your arrival. Even if many vehicles approach the junction at the same time, still the controller can adapt to the load and optimize the traffic flow avoiding any traffic jam situations. Car 2 Car is another initiative from the European car manufacturers. It is a non profit organisation and is dedicated to enable the development of active safety applications by specifying, prototyping and demonstrating the Car2Car system. The communication system is developed on 802.11 standard and its major applications include advance driver assistance, Danger warnings, road side safety related information which can be flashed on the screen, local dynamic map where cars that are equipped with digital maps can ask other vehicles about traffic conditions ahead of your route and then dynamically formulate the best route to be taken. The project intends to formulate the complete specifications by end of this year and get the frequencies allotted by 2010 when they begin business implementation and deployment of technology. The Fleetnet project is another such project that started in the year 2000 It employs position aware routing for the implementation of vehicle to vehicle communication. The data is transmitted through single or mutihop transmissions between moving vehicles and certain stationary nodes which are not centrally controlled. Certain sophisticated applications offered by Fleetnet include platooning where a group of vehicles can be automatically coordinated and maneuvered. A lead vehicle in such an application may broadcast sensor information to coordinate movement and potentially reduce the consumption of fuel. These applications require position awareness of other vehicles. Other applications include internet on the move. The issues that are required to be handled are that of the channel bandwidth. While the signals used for driver warning etc require very less bandwidth, the multimedia transmissions would require higher bit rates of around 100kbits/sec. Moreover the connectivity has to be ensured at all times. At high speeds the contact time between a moving vehicle and a stationary Fleetnet gateway could be as short as 5 to 10 seconds in which the signal has to be detected amplified and adapted after which the data transfer can take place. The Fleetnet project has implemented the internet integration on the gateway architecture. Each fleetnet node acts as a gateway for other arbitrary nodes (Hartenstein 2001) Business case analysis of future applications Inter vehicle communication is already becoming a standard feature in modern automobiles being manufactured today. The quantum of research presently going on in this area will only make the future automobiles smarter by harnessing this technology further. Most of the present applications are directed for driver safety and comfort. These applications are slated to be standard features in all future automobiles. However the issues that need to be resolved are of the standardization of the protocols being used. As this system depends upon other vehicles, it would be beneficial only after a certain amount of penetration has taken place. Though inter vehicle communication is a boon for road safety its commercial production and acceptance would be the acid test of this technology. The US based Honda motors have launched the ASV3 with advanced security features like camera and radar to give early warning to the driver. To carry out deeper penetration and wider acceptability of the technology the safety features may be made available to the user at minimal or no cost. The Revenue generation would be from the consumer oriented applications of the internet and other multimedia applications that would be beamed from static infrastructure along the roads, or with increasing bandwidth handling capabilities and computing power of the mobile nodes even through the mobile ad-hoc networks itself. By the year 2010, 84% of new automobiles would be equipped with a IVC capability, creating a 50 billion dollar industry with over 17 million subscribers. The estimated growth of mobile internet users is in the next decade is expected to be 9 times. After 2010, multimedia services, will be widely introduced and is expected to grow considerably. The ratio between voice and multimedia traffic in 2010 will approximately double up as compared to the present numbers Survey of In Vehicle Computers Telematics is the combined use of embedded vehicle PCs with wireless networks. A large number of manufacturers have customised on board computing solutions for performing specialised functions. Some important in vehicle computers are described in the following paragraphs. Voom PC supports a mini ITX form factor and is capable of running windows and linux OS and hence any telematics applications, it has an input voltage of 6 to 24 V. Autonode systems have a variety of car PC options, a 1GHz 1-DIN In-Dash Car PC with a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM is a powerful in Vehicle PC. It supports a heat elimination and vibration resistant design and also Bluetooth enabled. Apart from running windows OS they support almost all wireless standards including IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi and 802.16 Wi Max. The G Net car PC has a 1.5 GHz C7 processor running windows XP Pro OS It incorporates GPS and wireless internet in addition to vehicle diagnostic software. A new 1.4 GHz Pentium M CPU module for its ruggedized in-vehicle computers is being offered by Kontron. The China Auto Suppliers Group (CASG) has developed a low-cost, high-tech telematics system for the automotive industry. It runs the windows CE OS and has integrated GPS and GSM technologies. The major features of this system are Location tracing, Wireless internet access accident notification and dispatch control. Survey of In-Vehicle User Interfaces The Intelligent Transport System and Inter vehicle communication have made today's automobiles intelligent and smart. The information systems help the driver to have access to various types of information of his environment and the collision avoidance and early warning systems give him the power to see and react beyond his normal abilities. All these technologies would be of use to the driver only if they are well integrated and there is no clash and contradictions that emerge in the system itself. It is very important that the driver should have an easy and integrated user interface to interact with all the information that he is able to access. One of the most innovative user interfaces in the recent past that truly integrates all functionalities in the vehicle is the i-drive which was first demonstrated in BMW 745i concept car. It divides the driver controls in two areas one for driving and the other for comfort settings. The driver has easier accessibility and control of the hundreds of driving and communication options that he has access to while driving. The other conventional user interfaces for the vehicle PC are the wireless RF keyboard with integrated pointer from G Net technologies. The Bluetooth technology enables the vehicle PC to interact with cell phone, PDA and other wireless communication hardware. The Autonode also manufactures a Bluetooth enabled backlit keyboard for easier interaction with their vehicle PC. The touch screen monitors are also a popular interface device used by many in vehicle PC manufacturers. To ensure easier readability in bright light conditions the Autonode technologies have manufactured sunlight readable screens. COMUNICAR, has developed an in-vehicle, integrated Interface that improves both safety and driving comfort of the driver. The instrument panel and the display located in the middle of the cockpit. The interface integrates all the messages that are received by the driver from the telematic services like the early collision warnings etc as well as the conventional speedometer and tachometer devices including the entertainment provided in the vehicle. Conclusion This paper has presented an overview of all major types of Mobile ad-hoc Networks (MANET). The greater mobility of these nodes often leads to issues of connectivity and communication. To cater for such peculiar needs the communication protocols which are implemented over these ad-hoc networks have to be suitable changed. The applications that are run over these networks are the key for the implementation of this technology. The road safety is no doubt one of the prime applications of inter vehicle communication. However this being the motivation the future holds a variety of new un-tapped applications which would further enhance the drivers safety and comfort alike. Works Cited Tian, J. and K. Rothermel, (2002) Building large peer-to-peer systems in highly mobile ad -hoc networks: new challenges, Technical Report University of Stuttgart. Chen, Z.D., Kung H, and Vlah D. (2001) Ad hoc relay wireless networks over moving vehicles on highways. MobiHoc.. Santos R.A, Edwards R. M., and Edwards A. (2004) Cluster-Based Location Routing Algorithm for Vehicle to Vehicle Communication IEEE Charles E. Perkins, Elizabeth M. Belding-Royer, Samir R. Das. (2003). Ad hoc On- Demand Distance Vector (AODV) Routing. http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3561.txt IETF Johnson David B, Maltz David A., Yih-Chun Hu. (2003.) The Dynamic Source Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (DSR). http://www.ietf.org/internet- drafts/draft-ietfmanet-dsr-08.txt, IETF . Reichardt D., Miglietta M., Morett L (2000) CarTALK 2000 -safe and comfortable driving based upon inter-vehicle-communication. IEEE Intelligent Vehicle Symposium http://www.cartalk2000.net. Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) Home http://www.leearmstrong.com/DSRC/DSRCHomeset.htm. Yang X, Liu J, Zhao F, and Vaidya N. H. (2003) A Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Protocol for Cooperative Collision Warning. Technical report, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 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