On the performance of WLAN and Bluetooth for in-car infotainment systems

This paper focuses on the coexistence between WLAN and Bluetooth systems among vehicle infotainment applications, and on WLAN co-channel interference. Performance is evaluated using experimental measurements in real-world scenarios. The mobility effect is studied in detail. Results show that an onboard WLAN network is strongly affected by the surrounding networks. Coexistence duration decreases exponentially with relative speed between automobile networks. WLAN effect on Bluetooth is extremely high when WLAN's non-overlapped channels 1, 6, and 11 are simultaneously occupied. WLAN interference leads to a significant number of clippings in Bluetooth audio signals, especially in high WLAN traffic load situations. An exponential decease in the number of clipping events as a function of speed is observed.