A Research on Feasibility of Intra Vehicle Communication using Bluetooth Low Energy

Abstract

In Intra Vehicular Wireless Sensor Network (IVWSN), Engine Control Units (ECUs) gathers information about the vehicle from the sensors over wireless channels. This information is then transferred to On-Board Unit (OBU) through Controller Area Network (CAN) in order to monitor and maintain vehicular operations. CAN bus is widely used wired media for communication between ECU and sensors by several car manufacturers but it requires very careful sensor deployment and wiring. In this research thesis, we have achieved low cost and energy efficient communication between (1) sensor nodes and ECU using CAN bus and (2) OBU and ECU within Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) using Bluetooth low energy (BLE) CC2540/CC2541 modules that can be readily employed in densely urban environment for wireless inter vehicular (up to 50m range) as well as wireless intra vehicular (up to 10m range) communication. The BLE system was invented for the purpose of transmitting small packets of data at once, while consuming less power than Basic Rate & Enhanced Data Rate (BR & EDR) and IEEE 802.15.4 standard based ZigBee devices. A typical communication scenario involves either a Peripheral/ Central or Broadcaster/ Observer device pair. For our tests, we have chosen the Peripheral/ Central modes as they provide greater flexibility to configure application parameters and allow bidirectional communication. We have included comparison between BLE and CAN bus for communication between (1) ECUs and sensors and (2) ECU and OBU, in terms of energy efficiency, throughput, latency and coverage area. Furthermore, wireless communication between ECUs and sensors had been analyzed in the presence of interference sources like local Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hotspots.