IEEE 802.11p and Visible Light Hybrid Communication Based Secure Autonomous Platoon

Abstract

Autonomous vehicle platoon is an enhancement of autonomous behavior, where vehicles are organized into groups of close proximity through wireless communication. Platoon members mostly communicate with each other via the current dominant vehicular radio frequency (RF) technology, IEEE 802.11p. However, this technology leads security vulnerabilities under various attacks from adversaries. Visible light communication (VLC) has the potential to alleviate these vulnerabilities by exploiting the directivity and impermeability of light. Utilizing only VLC in vehicle platoon, on the other hand, may degrade platoon stability since VLC is sensitive to environmental effects. In this paper, we propose an IEEE 802.11p and VLC-based hybrid security protocol for platoon communication, namely SP-VLC, with the goal of ensuring platoon stability and securing platoon maneuvers under data packet injection, channel overhearing, jamming, and platoon maneuver attacks. We define platoon maneuver attack based on the identification of various scenarios where a fake maneuver packet is transmitted by a malicious actor. SP-VLC includes mechanisms for the secret key establishment, message authentication, data transmission over both IEEE 802.11p and VLC, jamming detection and reaction to switch to VLC only communication and secure platoon maneuvering based on the joint usage of IEEE 802.11p and VLC. We develop a simulation platform combining realistic vehicle mobility model, realistic VLC and IEEE 802.11p channel models, and vehicle platoon management. We show the functionality of the SP-VLC protocol under all possible security attacks by performing extensive simulations. Our findings demonstrate that SP-VLC protocol generates less than $0.1\%$ difference in the speed of and distance between platoon members during security attacks in comparison to $25\%$ and $10\%$ in that of previously proposed IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 802.11p-VLC hybrid protocols, respectively.