Comparative characterization of four antennas for VANETs by on-field measurements

Vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) have been extensively studied by simulations and trials and are getting closer and closer to the practical deployment. Despite this, only few studies have investigated the issues of antenna placement, even if it is far from being negligible: depending on the antenna position, a stronger or a weaker signal may be received and the overall effectiveness of safety messages carried by VANETs may get affected. This paper aims at digging into the problem of antenna placement for VANETs by a field-test comparative analysis of four candidate antennas, differing in their design and, particularly, in their positions.