Using 5.9 GHz DSRC to Aid the Elderly in Vehicular Environments

Fraaz Kamal
2013
This thesis investigated the feasibility of using the Dedicated Short Range Communication (5.9 GHz) protocol as a vehicular wireless system for transmitting elderly drivers' vital signs in medical emergencies. Existing vehicular communication systems, physiological monitors, and low-power wireless protocols were researched. An integrated in-car system that combined DSRC and physiological monitoring was developed. The DSRC system was tested for latency, packet loss, and range. The physiological
more » ... onitor was tested for accuracy of its sensors. Finally, the integrated system was tested for its success rate in a vehicular environment. The DSRC system communicated between moving vehicles with an average latency of 1.450 ± 0.415 ms, and it transmitted from a vehicle to roadside infrastructure at a maximum range of 460 m. The physiological monitor collected accurate heart rate, SpO 2 , and body temperature measurements. Finally, the integrated system transmitted physiological parameters from one moving vehicle to another with a 95% success rate. Driving cessation is sometimes necessary in the case of an elderly driver whose ability has declined. However, if an elderly driver's senses are still strong, it is preferable to keep them on the road. A survey from Adler and Rottunda [4] revealed that many elderly people who were forced to stop driving suffered a large decline in their sense of independence and their self-esteem. For these elderly drivers who are still on the road but more vulnerable in the case of an accident, there should be safeguards in place that allow them to receive prompt medical attention in the event of a motor vehicle accident. There have been numerous research studies that investigate the use of physiological sensors in a vehicle ([5], [6], [7], and [8] are a few examples), but there have been very few studies investigating the use of vehicular communication to transmit these physiological parameters to emergency medical services (EMS) or to other vehicles in the event of a car accident. A combined physiological monitoring and vehicular communication system could allow elderly drivers to receive medical attention quickly, which would potentially lower the number of fatalities that occur due to motor-vehicle traffic collisions. Additionally, the vehicular communication network could allow vehicles to be more aware of one another, which could lead to collision prevention applications that prevent elderly drivers from ending up in a life-threatening motor vehicle accident in the first place. At present, there is no ideal communication system in place to facilitate the requirements for collision prevention applications. Some researchers have looked at the possibility of using existing cellular communication systems such as UMTS [9] or WiMAX [10] to implement vehicular communication, but a vehicular network is intrinsically ad-hoc, and these cellular communication systems are not designed for ad-hoc communication. Communicating with a cellular tower leads to packet latencies that are unacceptable for collision prevention applications where the driver and/or the vehicle only has a very small amount of time to respond to the environment. This has motivated the creation of the IEEE 802.11p communication system for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure
doi:10.7939/r3h60k fatcat:jv3sfdfgq5cz5jis3noyx2rzae