14 PART | I ITS technology enablers
Intravehicle communication describes to interaction among versatile in-
vehicle entities (sensors, actuators, ECU, data aggregators, decision support
modules, etc.), as well as the transfer of data and information from one entity
to another, so as to collectively (or in a distributed manner) decide upon the
vehicle’s behavior, either a priori (cognitive systems) or a posteriori (adaptive
systems). It is also known as in-vehicle intelligence since it is the basis for an
intelligent moving node of the IoV network.
Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication refers to the interaction of sensors,
actuators, and other devices of (usually neighboring) vehicles with a vehicle’s
ECUs and decision support modules. The aim of this communication is to pro-
vide the vehicle with significant, almost real-time information on coordinates,
direction, velocities, as well as other emergency situations that have to be taken
into consideration before any situation handling.
Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication refers to the interaction
between the moving vehicle and the surrounding (usually static) transportation
infrastructure. Indicative examples of entities belonging to the infrastructure are
the traffic lights, traffic signs, on-road back-office, data centers, antennas, etc.
The vehicle exchanges information with the aforementioned entities, so as to
obtain an adequately good description of its context and thus enable immediate
adaptation to external requisitions.
Vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication aims to provide entertainment
and information services to the passengers taking advantage of available cloud
services, so it is also known as vehicle-to-cloud (V2C) communication. In also
provides security and firmware updates for the car software, shares engine infor-
mation with authenticated services in order to provide preventive maintenance,
FIGURE 2.1 Solutions provided using vehicular communication technologies.