On the Impact of Road Roughness and Antenna Position on Vehicular Communications

This letter deals with the problem of beampointing in millimeter-wave (mmWave) vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications. We analyze the impact of the road roughness and the antenna position (rooftop or bumper) by evaluating the beamforming loss with respect to an ideal system. We propose an analytical framework which integrates the model of road profile, its damping through the vehicle suspensions and the transfer to the antenna dynamics. We consider the use of a sensor-assisted and cooperative V2V beam tracking methodology at the two vehicles. Results highlight the advantages of the sensor assisted beam tracking and suggest the usage of rooftop-mounted antennas.