Study of Receiver Concepts for Vehicular Channels in IEEE 802.11p Systems

Vehicular channels are among the most challenging wireless channels due to their high Doppler frequencies and multiple path delays. To meet these challenges, the IEEE standard 802.11p was developed. To improve performance, a vast variety of extended receiver concepts has been proposed and evaluated under different test conditions. In this paper, we study the two most promising standard-compliant receiver extensions with respect to their performance in demanding vehicular channels. First, there is maximum ratio combining (MRC), which exploits antenna diversity by using multiple antennas. The second approach is often referred to as decision feedback equalization (DFE), which allows tracking the channel´s impulse response throughout the packet without requiring additional pilot data. Consequently, we also present the combination of both approaches to identify complementing effects.