VAS - Vehicle Alert System (CERES)

The VAS project poses challenging and interesting problems on several levels. At the link level the high velocities and dynamic conditions impose strict timing constraints. Reliable connections must be formed using efficient coding and modulation methods for timely delivery of information. Specific sub-goals include:

• Design transmitters and receivers using error control coding and diversity to provide reliable information transfer within limited time frames.
• Use the application specific quality of service parameters to prioritize traffic even at the lowest protocol layers to achieve maximum utilization of the limited resources in a wireless network.
  At the network level routing and addressing protocols face similar challenges due to high vehicle mobility.
• Develop protocols and methods that are able to handle highly dynamic environments and that enable fast connection setup and instant delivery of critical data.
• Investigate how to take a holistic approach to connection setup methods, medium access control and routing in ad hoc networks.

Application layer design must be able to handle heterogeneous nodes in secure and scalable ways. Specific sub-goals include:

• Develop a system architecture that takes into account the roles of infrastructure versus vehicles as carriers, interpreters and goal driven controllers of information.
• Find methods for modeling, prioritizing and handling situational information in a scalable way, even in overload situations.

The reaction time of a driver to an unforeseen event is critical in avoiding incidents. By warning surrounding vehicles of dangerous conditions drivers can be notified in time to avoid accidents. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication enables new types of safety services that act on up-to-date information about the surrounding environment. Vehicles that inform other vehicles about imminent dangerous situations can increase traffic safety and reduce the number of accidents.

By enabling vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication vehicles could disseminate information on the macro scale, for example data regarding specific roads, cities or counties. Vehicles cooperating on the macro scale can increase traffic efficiency and lessen the environmental impact. Features such as collaborative and assisted driving and will be some of the new applications available in future vehicles, important selling points for vehicle manufacturers as well as for third-party service providers. Vehicles communicating with each other and infrastructure can increase driver and passenger comfort.