Service-actuated multi-channel operation for vehicular communications

We present a novel approach for multi-channel operation (MCO) in vehicular communication systems, which allows for efficient utilization of the available bandwidth by asynchronous channel switching and enables dynamic service provisioning and usage by means of service advertisements. The proposed solution - Service-Actuated Multi-Channel Operation (SAMCO) - provides a logic that controls the prioritization of services and the timing of channel switching. It takes into account users preferences to decide on the consumption of a particular service if several concurrent services are available. SAMCO employs a novel channel load estimation scheme that, in addition to measuring the load on the channel at the physical layer, exploits the information contained in service advertisements. We perform simulations and use platooning as an example of a service with particularly stringent requirements to show that SAMCO can support service prioritization, continuity of service for high-priority services, and graceful degradation for low-priority services. Furthermore, by limiting the admission to services in high load scenarios, we show that SAMCO effectively controls the channel load and thereby complements congestion control mechanisms. Finally, we discuss the extensions needed in currently standardized solutions to implement SAMCO.