Context-Based Communications Dimensioning for Safety Applications in Wireless Vehicular Systems

The use of wireless vehicular communication systems for traffic safety applications imposes a careful and adequate communications dimensioning to ensure the transmission of broadcast safety messages in a timely manner. To date, several studies have proposed an adaptive dimensioning of the inter- vehicle communication protocols based on the particular operating conditions of the transmitting vehicles. This work complements these initial investigations by proposing and demonstrating the need to dimension such communication protocols not only based on the operating conditions but also on the vehicular context. By modifying the communication parameters based on the presence of nearby vehicles, the proposed context-based communications dimensioning reduces the risk of chain collisions.