Publications

Driving a vehicle is one of the most hazardous activities in our day-to-day live. Thus, many innovations in the car industry have been developed to increase safety. By using Inter-Vehicle Communication, pro-active safety systems of the future will be able to increase the driver's awareness and will therewith create a new level of safety for the driver and his environment at the same time. Though there is an immanent need for information concerning the surrounding traffic, there is yet a system to be developed which will be capable of permanently exchanging data amongst participants of any given traffic scenario on a spacial as well as on a temporal level. With the help of the algorithms developed in the context of this work, the gap between the global view of centrally gathered traffic data and the local (limited) perception of the driver can be bridged. Looking at the development of traffic during the last decades, there is a significant increase of the average daily traffic flow. Therefore, algorithms will be presented which will enhance a stable flow of traffic by distributing Floating Car Data amongst all vehicles. In a radio based network, the capacity for data transmission is limited. To counteract this limitation, advanced techniques for managing these resources are needed. The focus of using the suggested algorithms is to minimize stress upon the network and, at the same time, to forward and distribute data more quickly and effectivly. An essential result of this work is, that decentralized distribution of safety relevant traffic information can take place in a wireless ad-hoc network between vehicles without a standard set up infra structure, using standard transmission power of communication systems already in operation. Furthermore, by spreading locally relevant Floating Car Data the traffic flow can also be increased. In the long run, techniques like Inter-Vehicle Communication will be more widely spread in new vehicles than they are today. Hence, the results gained from this work may offer a valuable contribution in the area of safety to our driving in the future.