Virtual Traffic Light Implementation on a Roadside Unit over 802.11p Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments

Area of Science:

• Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
• Wireless Communication Networks
• Traffic Engineering

Background:

• Blind intersections, common in rural areas, pose significant safety risks due to poor visibility and high speeds.
• The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) offers a framework for enhancing road safety through vehicle communication.
• Existing infrastructure is often insufficient in rural settings to mitigate intersection hazards.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel Road-Side Unit-based Virtual Intersection Management (RSU-VIM) system tailored for rural environments.
• To enhance safety and traffic flow at blind intersections using connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs).
• To develop a lightweight, solar-powered RSU solution for improved accessibility and sustainability.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a lightweight, solar-powered Road-Side Unit (RSU) using a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
• Development and adaptation of the RSU-VIM algorithm for virtual traffic light management.
• Utilizing IEEE 802.11p for vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication within the IoV framework.

Main Results:

• The proposed RSU-VIM system demonstrated a simulated cloud delay of 0.0841 seconds.
• The overall system achieved a low latency of 0.4067 seconds.
• The system exhibited high reliability, reaching 98.611%.

Conclusions:

• The RSU-VIM system effectively addresses visibility issues at blind intersections in rural areas.
• The proposed solution offers a viable and reliable method for improving traffic safety within the IoV paradigm.
• The lightweight, solar-powered RSU is suitable for deployment in resource-constrained rural environments.