Methods for extracting V2V propagation models from imperfect RSSI field data

We describe three in-field data collection efforts yielding a large database of RSSI values vs. time or distance from vehicles communicating with each other via DSRC. We show several data processing schemes we have devised to develop opportunistic Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) propagation models from such data. The database is limited in several important ways, not least, the presence of a high noise floor that limits the distance over which good modeling is feasible. Another is the presence of interference from multiple active transmitters. Our methodology makes it possible to obtain, despite these limitations, accurate models of median path loss vs. distance, shadow fading, and fast fading caused by multipath. We aim not to develop a new V2V model, but to show the methods enabling such a model to be obtained from in-field RSSI data, without elaborate measurement design and the associated deployment cost. Finally, models based on field data allow for capturing the multiple effects of an increasing number of simultaneous V2V transceivers under typical extreme traffic scenarios.