Survey and Perspectives of Vehicular Wi-Fi versus Sidelink Cellular-V2X in the 5G Era

TLDR

The upcoming revolution of cooperative connected and automated vehicles hinges on short‑range wireless communications, with IEEE 802.11p and short‑range cellular‑V2X emerging as the two standardized technologies, each evolving differently and still subject to debate. This work aims to compare IEEE 802.11p and C‑V2X, isolating the contributions of their physical and MAC layers. The authors conduct large‑scale simulations in realistic urban and highway scenarios, supplemented by literature review, to analyze the two technologies. The analysis provides insights into the relative strengths and weaknesses of IEEE 802.11p and C‑V2X, showing how physical and MAC layer differences affect performance.

Abstract

The revolution of cooperative connected and automated vehicles is about to begin and a key milestone is the introduction of short range wireless communications between cars. Given the tremendous expected market growth, two different technologies have been standardized by international companies and consortia, namely IEEE 802.11p, out for nearly a decade, and short range cellular-vehicle-to-anything (C-V2X), of recent definition. In both cases, evolutions are under discussion. The former is only decentralized and based on a sensing before transmitting access, while the latter is based on orthogonal resources that can be also managed by an infrastructure. Although studies have been conducted to highlight advantages and drawbacks of both, doubts still remain. In this work, with a reference to the literature and the aid of large scale simulations in realistic urban and highway scenarios, we provide an insight in such a comparison, also trying to isolate the contribution of the physical and medium access control layers.