Researchers develop system for testing vehicle-to-vehicle communication via headlights

Researchers from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (FEECS) at VŠB–TUO, affiliated with the REFRESH project’s Industry 4.0 & Automotive Lab, have reported a significant advance in the field of visible light communication (VLC). In the prestigious journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, they introduce a novel system enabling experimental evaluation of vehicle-to-vehicle communication using standard automotive headlights.

“The study presents an innovative software-defined radio (SDR)-based platform designed to measure the bit error rate under real-world dynamic conditions of direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Unlike earlier research relying predominantly on simulations, we verified the technology directly in real-world traffic conditions for both stationary and moving vehicles. Using standard automotive headlights and the OFDM method, we experimentally demonstrated stable communication over distances of up to 10 meters with a very low error rate,” said one of the publication’s authors, René Jaroš.

VLC-based vehicle communication offers clear practical potential, particularly for traffic safety, autonomous driving, and intelligent transportation systems. The importance of the research is underscored by its publication in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, a top-decile journal according to the rigorous AIS (Article Influence Score).

“The acceptance of this empirical study in such a highly ranked journal is clear proof that the research in our project is at the world’s forefront and offers robust solutions for the intelligent transportation systems of the future,” said another member of the authoring team and Dean of FEECS, Radek Martinek.

The full article is available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/11367400