Testing Bluetooth Low Energy v5 Capabilities for Connected Vehicles Applications

This paper is exploring additional short-range communication technologies with the potential to be used in non-critical applications for road safety and connected vehicles. The purpose is to define the capabilities of these technologies in being used for vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and/or infrastructure-to-everything (I2X) communications, with the goal to reduce traffic congestion, increase safety and support different applications, such as e-information. Considering also reducing the amount of energy consumed by the infrastructure equipment, in this research we have tested the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) v5 technology for V21 in different conditions. The results show a relatively low confidence in long-distance links or high-speed connecting scenarios, but there are other applications where the technology could find its utility, such as V21 warnings - for synchronous start from traffic lights, vehicle counting, route guidance, alerting, safety or general notifications. These could be beneficial in increasing traffic safety or reducing congestion and pollution in densely populated urban areas.