5 GHz Intra-Vehicle Channel Characterization

This paper presents wideband wireless channel characterization results for intra-automobile communication in the 5 GHz band. Results pertain to data collected from a mini-van and bus, both parked. Motivating this work is the scarcity of results for intra-automobile wireless channel characteristics. This paper describes some related work, the measurement conditions and procedures, and resulting channel characteristics for the two environments. Measurements were taken using a 50 MHz bandwidth spread spectrum correlator channel sounder, and power delay profiles (PDPs) were collected. We provide root-mean square delay spread (RMS-DS) statistics, and statistical channel models for these two intra-automobile channels. Mean RMS-DS values are approximately 17 ns in the mini-van, and 17 and 22 ns for measurements with two different transmitter locations in the bus. RMS-DS standard deviations range from 2-6 ns. As expected, the RMS-DS values increase with vehicle size and transmitter-receiver distance. Both human movement and the unique physical structures of the intra-automobile environment also strongly affect the channel's characteristics.