Enhancements of V2X communication in support of cooperative autonomous driving

TLDR

Autonomous vehicles and V2X communication are emerging automotive technologies whose combination enables cooperative sensing and maneuvering, potentially improving traffic safety, efficiency, and driver comfort, but first‑generation V2X standards were designed mainly for driver warning and do not target autonomous driving use cases. This article designs core functionalities for cooperative autonomous driving and outlines the necessary evolution of communication standards to support selected autonomous driving use cases. It describes the targeted use cases, identifies their communication requirements, and analyzes current ETSI V2X standards to pinpoint missing features. The outcome is a set of specifications for amending and extending the standards to support cooperative autonomous driving.

Abstract

Two emerging technologies in the automotive domain are autonomous vehicles and V2X communication. Even though these technologies are usually considered separately, their combination enables two key cooperative features: sensing and maneuvering. Cooperative sensing allows vehicles to exchange information gathered from local sensors. Cooperative maneuvering permits inter-vehicle coordination of maneuvers. These features enable the creation of cooperative autonomous vehicles, which may greatly improve traffic safety, efficiency, and driver comfort. The first generation V2X communication systems with the corresponding standards, such as Release 1 from ETSI, have been designed mainly for driver warning applications in the context of road safety and traffic efficiency, and do not target use cases for autonomous driving. This article presents the design of core functionalities for cooperative autonomous driving and addresses the required evolution of communication standards in order to support a selected number of autonomous driving use cases. The article describes the targeted use cases, identifies their communication requirements, and analyzes the current V2X communication standards from ETSI for missing features. The result is a set of specifications for the amendment and extension of the standards in support of cooperative autonomous driving.