Title:
Real-Time Wireless Digital Channel Emulation for Autonomous Vehicle Experimentation
Abstract:
Autonomous vehicle networks require reliable wireless communication that can be validated under realistic, controlled conditions. This thesis presents a real-time digital wireless channel emulation framework for multi-vehicle connectivity, providing a repeatable and controllable environment relative to real-world field trials. Leveraging the Keysight PROPSIM F64 hardware emulator, the proposed framework replicates dynamic vehicular environments by incorporating signal phenomena such as reflection, scattering, and Doppler shifts. Without loss of generality, the proposed research employs both Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and 5G physical layer, link layer, and networking layer standards to ensure relevance to modern deployments. By utilizing the PROPSIM GUI, a scalable emulation setup was developed to test multiple mobile stations across various propagation scenarios. Validation was performed via a comparison of GUI metrics, power measurements, and reference field data from literature. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework effectively reproduces realistic channel behavior, offering a high-fidelity, efficient platform for the validation of autonomous vehicle communication systems.
Research Advisor:
Prof. Alex Wyglinski
ECE Department, WPI
Research Committee:
Prof. Bo Tang
ECE Department, WPI
Michael Craton
MIT Lincoln Labs