ERI: Exploring Micro-Doppler Sensing Opportunities within the Context of Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything Communication

Kennesaw State University Research And Service Foundation, Kennesaw GA

Investigators

Abstract

In the United States, automotive accidents cause the loss of life for over 40,000 Americans and contribute to an annual economic cost of $340 billion. Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) communication is a wireless technology that allows cars to avoid accidents by exchanging real-time safety messages without requiring a connection to a cellular tower. The technology also enables vehicles to communicate with transportation infrastructure. C-V2X will improve automotive safety and make a more efficient transportation system in the United States. However, vehicles equipped with the technology can only communicate with similarly equipped vehicles. The proposed research will enhance C-V2X's ability to detect unequipped vehicles while communicating. The outcomes of this research could help drivers avoid collisions. In addition, the outcomes of this research could enable greater utilization of wireless spectrum by performing sensing and communications with the same radio. A diverse early learner-level group will engage in theoretical and experimental research activities. The project aims to process echoes of C-V2X messages reflected off the bodies of moving vehicles, providing a broad field of view for detecting other vehicles regardless of whether the other vehicles are equipped with the technology. The project will include two phases. Phase I creates a theoretical framework for extracting micro-Doppler profiles using signals generated from C-V2X radios that follow the 3GPP Rel. 14 standard; Phase II will develop a micro-Doppler simulator informed by data collected from live C-V2X signals in collision crash scenarios. The outcomes of the research activity will seed a long-term research program in integrated (joint) sensing and communications applicable to next-generation vehicular communications such as millimeter Wave, 5G new radio, and terahertz. In addition to a formal theoretical description for extracting micro-Doppler profiles from C-V2X, the data collected in Phase II will create an extensible simulator for creating collision avoidance algorithms using micro-Doppler with C-V2X and next-generation vehicular communication technologies. The diverse group of learner levels will gain experience in digital signal processing, programming software-defined radios, and how to perform wireless channel measurements. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.