Challenges and improvement strategies for the physical layer in vehicular communications

The physical layer is a key component for the overall performance of a wireless transmission system. It has to meet the specific needs and environmental conditions to which the system is exposed. IEEE 802.11p, which is the predominant standard used for vehicular communication up to now, inherits certain shortcomings from its predecessor, IEEE 802.11a. In this paper, we discuss the various environmental effects entailed with vehicle-to-vehicle communication as well as several techniques to mitigate the shortcomings of the standard. V2V communication, IEEE 802.11p, WAVE, OFDM