5. Message Sets for Vehicular Communications

VANET technology includes Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communications. It supports the realization of a large variety of Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) applications and services by enabling real-time data exchanges between vehicles, between vehicles and infrastructure systems. C-ITS technologies extend the driver perception to the traffic ahead, avoid potential road hazard situations, collision risks and improve traffic efficiency. Automobile and road operator stakeholders in Europe and in North America have been jointly driving research and development of the C-ITS for more than a decade. Message sets specifications, standardization, and validation consist of one key activity for VANET technology development in world wide. Even though some differences are observed in technical features of message sets in order to satisfy regional specific requirements, commonality is often found in terms of basic features and application usages. Recently, some regions in the EU and in North America have realized large-scale field tests and entered the phase of C-ITS pilot deployment. The present chapter provides an overview of the C-ITS core message sets being standardized and planned to be deployed in the EU and in North America.