EAPSI: Determining the relative location of malicious nodes within Vehicle-to-Vehicle wireless networks for driver safety

Kihei Billy, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

In the United States, 33,000 people are killed annually due to automotive accidents. Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) wireless communication is a technology that allows cars to avoid accidents through the exchange of safety messages containing Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates and land speed information in real-time. However, existing V2V wireless systems do not account for information from hacked/malicious systems, which force a car to communicate wrong GPS coordinates or land speed information. This project will investigate new physical layer techniques to allow cars to determine other cars? relative location to a receiver by listening to the way the safety message is received instead of the message?s contents. These findings could be used to help drivers avoid accidents in the event that other vehicles are hacked. This research will be conducted under the guidance of Dr. Wan Choi, an established expert in V2V physical layer wireless communication, at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea. The project aims to develop new algorithms to determine a transmitter?s relative azimuth and elevation. The algorithms developed will advance the field of radio localization by designing algorithms specifically for the newly deployed V2V communication signal which uses the IEEE 802.11p physical layer standard. The project will include two phases: Phase I involves the development of algorithms through mathematics and signal processing theory; Phase II entails the implementation of the algorithms in software and hardware using software defined radios. The findings generated from the project will allow future vehicle networking researchers to develop new advanced collision avoidance systems and techniques for detecting hacked vehicles, ultimately improving driver safety and reducing fatalities due to auto accidents. This award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea.