Intra-vehicle wireless sensor network communication quality assessment via packet delivery ratio measurements

Abstract

For the development of reliable intra-vehicle low power wireless communication protocols, realistic wireless channel models are required. In this article, we present measurements taken in two different vehicles (compact passenger cars), one with a petrol and the other with an electric engine, with the aim to develop such channel models.We measured the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and packet delivery ratio (PDR) values for several channel and communication settings, e.g. varying IEEE 802.15.4 channels, transmit power levels, packet sizes and different levels of Wi-Fi interference. We observed several unique characteristics of the wireless channel behaviour, resulting in separate zones inside the vehicle with similar behaviour, effects due to different types of engines and observed the impact of charging the electric car.