Drivers’ Warning Application Through Personalized DSSS-CDMA Data Transmission by Using the FM Radio Broadcasting Infrastructure

In this paper, a new drivers’ warning application through personalized Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum Code-Division Multiple Access (DSSS-CDMA) transmissions, performed using the FM radio broadcasting infrastructure is presented. The proposed application is designed to simultaneously transmit a maximum of 15 low-resolution image notifications together with standard FM radio broadcasting in different geographical areas. The application is intended to warn drivers of significant driving events in major traffic areas of a country. The proposed solution is low-cost and rapid to put into practice because the modifications, both on the transmission infrastructure and on the receiver’s side, are relatively easy to implement. The transmission of image notifications is performed in subsidiary bands of commercial FM radio systems. The receiver is implemented using the Software-Defined Radio (SDR) paradigm and is able to extract the audio signal (corresponding to the usual FM transmission) and the data component, depending on the geographical area in which the vehicle is located. The receiver is based on a novel implementation of a modified Costas loop using two new nonlinear limiters. Appropriate image notification is selected using a specific decoding key, generated according to the geographical position of the vehicle. The performance of the data transmission system is analyzed by plotting the Bit Error Rate (BER) versus the signal-to-noise ratio of the data signal for different numbers of image notifications simultaneously transmitted. The proposed radio communication system was validated through an experimental setup based on Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) devices driven by MATLAB/Simulink software.