Crossroad management through visible light communication in cooperative vehicular systems

Abstract

This paper uses the concept of request/response for the management of a trajectory in a two-way-two-way traffic lights controlled crossroad, using Visible Light Communication (VLC). The connected vehicles receive information from the network (I2V), interact with each other (V2V) and with the infrastructure (V2I), using a request distance and pose estimation concept. In parallel, an intersection manager (IM) coordinates the crossroad and interacts with the vehicles (I2V) using the response distance and the pose estimation concepts. The communication is performed through VLC using the street lamps and the traffic signaling to broadcast the information. Data is encoded, modulated and converted into light signals emitted by the transmitters. Tetra-chromatic white sources are used providing a different data channel for each chip. As receivers and decoders, SiC Wavelength Division Multiplexer (WDM) devices, with light filtering properties, are used. A simulated Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) traffic scenario is presented and a generic model of cooperative transmission established. The primary objective is to control the arrival of vehicles to the intersection and schedule them to cross at times that minimize delays. Bidirectional communication between the vehicles and the infrastructure is tested, using the VLC request/response distance and pose estimation concepts. A phasing traffic flow is developed as a proof of concept. The simulated/experimental results confirm the cooperative VLC architecture. Results show that the communication between connected cars is optimized using a request/response concept and that pose analysis is an important issue to control driver’s behavior in a crossroad. The block diagram conveys that the vehicle’s behavior (successive poses) is influenced by the manoeuvre permission, by the I2V messages and also by the intersection redesigned layout and presence of other vehicles. An increase in the traffic throughput with least dependency on infrastructure is achieved.