Concept for Virtual Drive Testing on the Basis of Challenging V2X and LTE Link Scenarios

Virtual drive tests using the over-the-air/vehicle-in-the-loop method are becoming an essential part of testing vehicular radio systems. Different approaches address the question which link scenarios and channel environments are relevant, and should be tested. Up to now, this question has not been fully answered. This paper deals with the identification of challenging scenarios for the wireless transmission standards LTE and ITS-G5 based on jointly performed drive tests, and how these can be transferred into a virtual test concept. In the case of LTE, the focus is on the transition region between different mobile radio cells (cell edge). We have reproducibly observed that the achievable data throughput drops significantly at cell edges compared to the cell centers. For ITS-G5, the communication limit was examined as a function of the distance and visibility conditions between two communicating vehicles.