Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VoiiComm (Value-of-Information Driven Communication for Connected and Automated Transportation) Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-10-26 al 2022-10-25 Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto The project arose out of the need to efficiently transfer large amounts of data generated by and shared between automated vehicles (AVs) and with networks and infrastructures in connected and automated transportation (CAT). As the number of CAVs increases, the huge data volume will easily exceed the capacity of the wireless network. A paradigm shift in communication protocols towards a value-driven design is, therefore, crucial to avoid wasting network resources and degrading traffic safety and efficiency. The problem is that no existing model and theory can be directly applied to assess the value of information (VoI). In the meantime, as the operating frequency evolves towards millimeter wave (mmWave) and higher frequency bands, the trend of using large-scale antenna arrays (LSAAs) is becoming clear. The problems that have been addressed by this project are the following: 1) How to design metrics that capture the space-time statistical properties of VoI;2) How to model these spatio-temporal VoI metrics; 3) How to develop efficient sampling and transmission scheduling strategies accordingly. Over the past decade, the world has witnessed enormous advances in automated driving. The key role of wireless communication in unfolding the full potential of AVs is widely acknowledged. By fusing the sensing information provided by the AVs, an accurate and real-time representation of the highly dynamic traffic environment can be formed. This cooperative environment perception (CEP) lies as the foundation of a variety of safety and efficiency-improving applications, and will eventually push the transition towards CAT, to eliminate traffic fatalities and injuries, reduce congestion and emissions, and extend mobility to all groups of people. The overall objective of this project is to establish a theoretical framework and practical methods for evaluating and modeling VoI with their spatio-temporal correlation, to enable the development of efficient communication protocols to facilitate cooperative environment perception and to promote CAT. The project serves the EU’s vision for Connected and Automated Mobility in a Digital Single Market, Vision Zero – to reduce road deaths to almost zero by 2050, and the “Building a low-carbon, climate-resilient future” focus area of Horizon 2020. Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti During the course of the project, we have designed metric and proposed analytical tool for the communication links between vehicular users and cellular base stations with large-scale antenna arrays (LSAA), developed exact and asymptotic models for the metric, and proposed novel communication strategy and high-precision positioning solution to enable efficient and low-complexity position-based vehicular communications. An overview of the results and their exploitation and dissemination are as follows: • For the communication link between an AV and a base station (BS) employing LSAAs under LOS propagation conditions, we propose to use the K-number, an estimate of the spatial DoF, as the key performance metric and to use the spatial bandwidth analysis as the analytical tool for its evaluation. The metric and the results obtained in two different settings are published as a journal paper in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications and a conference paper IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), Workshop on Electromagnetic Information Theory (EMIT 2022). The results were also presented in a workshop organized at Ericsson and at Swedish Wireless Workshop. • Based on the solid asymptotic analysis, we developed asymptotic models that have multi-slope or dual-slope linear relationships with the communication distance for two special orientations and the general orientation condition. The goodness-of-fit of the models has also been verified. The results were included in a paper that is submitted to IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. • A V2V-assisted V2I mmWave communication strategy for cooperative perception with information value-based relay was proposed where the evaluation of VoI is based on the distance between the source and receiving VUEs, and the improvement in the outage performance was shown. The results were published as a conference paper at IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM).• To provide reliable position information based solely on the cellular network and hence enable position-based communication schemes, a cellular positioning integrity monitoring method was developed based on Bayesian inference, and a factor graph-based message passing algorithm was developed for the high-precision, high-reliable positioning. The results were submitted as a conference paper to IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora) The proposed metric the analytical method can be used to investigate other fundamental issues associated with communication systems using LSAA, including beam-focusing, spatial multiplexing, and spatial resolution, and can be exploited for the effective design of a wider range of applications (not limited to vehicular communication). The developed simple asymptotic models can be used for large-scale system-level performance evaluation and to facilitate effective communication scheme design. The results might benefit both the automotive and information communication technology industries of Europe. Spatial distribution of the K number for the communication between a BS with vertical LSAA and a VUE
