Characterizing Uncertainties of Wireless Channels in Connected Vehicles

The performance of autonomous cars can be greatly enhanced through wireless coordination. However, mobility has traditionally been a challenge for wireless networks due to rapid fluctuation of the signal quality. Current control systems handle this challenge by slowing down the vehicle to preserve safety. However, in this research, we demonstrate that we can robustly characterize the channel quality by mapping the multipath signals to the dynamics of the physical environment, thus controlling the trajectory of the mobile agent to a safe efficient motion path. This allows mobile systems to realize the performance benefits of wireless coordination while providing safety.