Integrated Traffic–Communication Simulation Evaluation Environment for IntelliDrive Applications Using SAE J2735 Message Sets

Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications made possible by IntelliDrive will enable new transportation applications and services. To understand and quantify potential benefits from Intelli-Drive applications, these applications should be evaluated before field deployment. An IntelliDrive simulation environment was developed; it replicated precise vehicular movements, incorporated IntelliDrive wireless communications based on wireless access in vehicular environments–dedicated short-range communication standards, and simulated real IntelliDrive message sets defined in the Society of Automotive Engineers J2735 standard. A case study of a prototype lane changing advisory algorithm revealed that communication delays were not likely to be a significant factor and showed maximum delays of only 55 ms for the basic safety message (BSM) and 1.3 ms for the a la carte message (ACM). The probability of successful communication can affect evaluation results. For example, for a lane changing advisory algorithm, the probability of successful transmission of a series of required messages—three BSMs and one ACM—was only 50% when fewer than 120 vehicles were within a communication radius of 50 m. This result implied a significant degradation in algorithm performance. The results demonstrate the feasibility of integrating traffic and communication simulation models and the need to consider both components in IntelliDrive evaluation.