Feasibility of Safety Applications Based on Intra-Car Wireless Sensor Networks: A Case Study

Nowadays, there are more than 150 sensors inside a car which are connected via wires to the Electronic Control Units (ECUs). The increase in the number of sensors put into a car adds significant weight to the car and makes the wiring system more complex. Intra-car Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is therefore a promising solution for automobile industry in the near future as it eliminates the amount of wiring harness and simplifies the wiring structure. The reduction in the weight of a car leads in a more efficient engine performance, better fuel economy, and reliability. In addition to the direct benefits, the Intra-car WSNs can be used for other applications. An example shown in this paper is a BLind spot Information System (BLIS). The Intra-car WSN-based BLIS is evaluated via real experiments on vehicles. The results show a comparable or even higher detection rate with other BLISs (i.e., based on cameras and radars). The main benefit of Intra- car WSNs-based BLIS is cost; the proposed system does not require additional hardware components (e.g., cameras or radars).