Multiple antenna systems for vehicle to vehicle communications

In this paper, the use of multiple antenna systems and their impact on improving the capacity and efficiency of vehicular communication systems are investigated through ray-tracing simulation. A total of 15 transmitters and 15 receivers were spread on the rear, center and front of two vehicles, separated by a definite distance. This multiple antenna system was studied in two different environments. One was in the area of College of Engineering and Mines in the University of North Dakota and other was in the area around Wal-Mart in Grand Forks, ND. The simulation software, Wireless InSite® from Remcom Inc., was utilized. Initially, the response of each receiver with respect to each transmitter was analyzed depending on the received power. Furthermore, adopting the concept of Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO), different combination of transmitters and receivers were used to evaluate the channel capacity of a vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication system in respect to antenna position.