Demonstration of multi-channel medium access control protocol in vehicular power line communication (VPLC) using OMNeT++

In-vehicle communication is becoming more important as the need to ensure reliable and efficient communications with the increasing number of x-by-wire applications. In order to well maintain in-vehicle communications, it is necessary to evolve protocols for managing communications and, in particular, for granting bus access for real-time applications. In this paper, we describe a demonstration of the multi-channel random access protocol that we have developed for VPLC using OMNeT++. The proposed solution uses a combination of time and frequency multiplexing and consists of two key features: (i) multiple access channels to prioritize transmissions and (ii) a distributed collision resolution algorithm that allows each node to compete for the use of its selected channel. The live demonstration illustrates the contention resolution procedure of in-vehicle communications with different service classes, shows simulation results to validate the advantages of the proposed protocol and provides useful guidelines for developing a robust contention-based protocol for vehicular power line communication systems.