5G multi-antenna V2V channel modeling with a 3D game engine

The automotive industry is currently conceiving the future cars of the 2020s, which are expected to combine multiple antenna elements distributed across the car body in order to enhance their communication capabilities. This paper describes a novel approach for channel characterization that uses the ray tracing capabilities of the Unity 3D game engine on a vehicle-to-vehicle scenario supported by fifth-generation mobile communications. First, a validation process was carried out, which satisfactorily validated the path loss results of our Unity approach with respect to channel measurements available in the literature for V2V communication at 5.2 GHz and 5.75 GHz. Then, path loss results were obtained for a comprehensive set of involved vehicle arrangements considering multiple transmission and reception antenna combinations at 5.9 GHz. The results suggest that, in future 5G V2V scenarios, the selection of the antenna combination providing the minimum path loss in a particular situation, could maximize the received signal level, thus playing an essential role in ensuring the best possible channel conditions for vehicular communications.