Multi-Band Vehicle-to-Vehicle Channel Characterization in the Presence of Vehicle Blockage

Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) channels exhibit unique properties due to the highly dynamic environment and low elevation of the antennas at both ends of the link. Of particular importance for the behavior of V2V channels, and consequent reliability of the communication link, is the severity and dynamics of blockage of both the line-of-sight and other multipath components (MPCs). The characteristics of blockage become more important as the carrier frequency increases, and the ability of the signal to penetrate through objects diminishes. To characterize the effects of vehicle blockage, we performed V2V channel measurements in four different frequency bands (6.75, 30, 60, and 73 GHz) in urban and highway scenarios. We analyzed the impact of the blocker size and position on the received power and fast fading parameters, as well as the frequency dependence of these parameters under blockage. Our results show that there is a strong influence of the size of the blocking vehicle on the blockage loss and the angular/delay spread. The position of the blocker relative to the transmitter and receiver also plays an important role. On the other hand, the frequency dependence is quite limited, with the blockage loss increasing slightly and the number of scattered MPCs reducing slightly as frequency increases. The main conclusion of this paper is that V2V communication will be possible in high (millimeter-wave) frequencies, even in the case of blockage by other vehicles.