Management of split intersections using vehicular visible light communication

Abstract

Vehicle Communication Systems consist of vehicles and roadside units that communicate with one another in order to exchange information, such as traffic information and safety warnings. Split intersections are an innovative solution for congested urban areas. In this case, a congested two-way-two-way intersection is made into two lighter intersections. It facilitates a smoother flow with less driver delay, by reducing the number of conflict points and improving the travel time. Based on Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (I2V) communications, we propose a Visible Light Communication system that can safely manage vehicles crossing an intersection using Edge of Things facilities. The connected vehicles communicate with each other and with the infrastructure through visible light, by using headlights, street lamps, and traffic signals, In parallel, an intersection manager coordinates the traffic flow and interacts with the vehicles through internally installed Driver Agents. Request/response mechanisms and time/space relative pose concepts are used to control the flow of vehicles safely crossing the intersection. A communication scenario is established, and a “mesh/cellular” hybrid network configuration is proposed. Data is encoded, modulated and converted into light signals emitted by the transmitters. As receivers and decoders, optical sensors with light filtering properties, are used. Bidirectional communication between the infrastructure and the vehicles is tested, using the VLC request/response concept. Results show that the short-range mesh network ensures a secure communication from street lamp controllers to the edge computer through the neighbor traffic light controller with active cellular connection and enables peer-to-peer communication, to exchange information between VVLC ready connected cars.