On the Usability of Vehicle-to-Roadside Communications Using IEEE 802.11b/g Unplanned Wireless Networks

Wireless networks are achieving a widespread penetration thanks to a variety of low cost solutions; cities are overcrowded with IEEE 802.11 access points. While connecting a notebook to a wireless network is simple, a vehicle connection to a roadside unit is still one of the most challenging topic.

In this paper, we introduce a novel solution for vehicle-to-roadside communications using the standard IEEE 802.11b/g network devices. Despite the existence of IEEE 802.11p standard, we exploit IEEE 802.11b/g, which is available and can be already used for the real world applications.

The proposed solution is composed of two layers. A wireless connection layer is responsible for network switching. The upper roaming layer is a proxy and tunneling module providing reliable connection for rapidly changing network environment. The system is designed to provide secure roaming capability on GSM, UMTS, HSDPA and WiFi networks.

Proposed solution was experimentally verified and used as a part of projects involving a vehicle-to-Internet applications.