An error correction algorithm for forward collision warning applications

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are based on the intelligence placed on roadside units and onboard vehicles. ITS technologies, like connected cars, improve road safety by having vehicles communicating with each other, with the infrastructure, or both. The communication uses the 5.9 GHz band, called Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), and protocols defined in the Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) architecture. This paper evaluates, through practical experiments with latest on-board units (OBUs), the performance of a forward collision warning (FCW) application operating in the DSRC control channel number 178. The application uses location information provided by an internal high-precision GPS to calculate the safe braking distance from a vehicle moving towards a stationary vehicle. Experiments were conducted at speeds of 30, 40, 50 and 60 km/h with a GPS update rate of 5 Hz. Our results show a margin of error below 1%, demonstrating the required reliability to forward collision avoidance applications.