Approaches for Facilities Layer Protocols for Platooning

Abstract

This paper describes three approaches for facilities layer protocols for platooning. These imply sharing information within a platoon of vehicles based on communication standards developed within ETSI TC ITS. Two novel ITS facilities layer protocols for platooning are proposed: Minimal and Full Platooning protocols. Standardising such protocols enable vehicles from different OEMs to have a common communication strategy for platooning. The proposed protocols are compared with the current facilities layer protocols: CAM and DENM. Deficiencies of these with respect to platooning are discussed. A discussion on message update rate is also given. Results from a demonstration of platooning with the Minimal protocol compared to CAM/DENM are presented. It is shown that the Minimal protocol gave a lower latency of brake actuation during a hard brake manoeuvre.