DSRC Channel Fading Analysis from Empirical Measurement

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication research has gained tremendous interest in recent years due to its importance in facilitating future active safety and telematics applications. However, with limited literature available, there is lack of understanding for modeling mobile-to-mobile channels in vehicular environments. In this paper, we conduct preliminary channel fading statistical analysis of empirical measurement data from devices compatible with the emerging dedicated short range communications (DSRC) standard. In particular, we use the Nakagami distribution to analyze the received signal strength (i.e., RSSI) from empirical measurement, and characterize the fading statistics as a function of distance for vehicular operating environment. Our analysis reveals that fading can be approximated by Rician distribution within 100 m while it seems to follow Rayleigh distribution beyond 100 m. The outcome of the study could be used for vehicular network simulation.