V2X-based traffic flow calculation with support of unique identifier randomization

Abstract

Vehicle to Vehicle and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2X) communication is heading our roads by next few years, and such a technology will open a door for many new applications and services. Many applications and services could benefit from the big data that will be transmitted over the air by the vehicles. A straight forward application example would be traffic flow calculation based on the average travel time. The same technique has been used in the traditional systems by sniffing the MAC address of the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices passing by specific locations within the city. Comparing the times when the same device is detected at different locations, provides an accurate estimate of the average travel time within the city. Such a nonintrusive technique would work only and only if the unique identifier of the wireless device does not change. But this is not the case in V2X, as the cars unique identifier changes to guarantee the user privacy. This contribution solves this issue by enabling a continuous tracking of a vehicle even when it frequently changes its unique identifier. The proposed solution does not claim solving the issue completely, but it significantly reduces its impact.