Project: #355 Rethinking Connected Vehicles for Spectrum Scarcity Progress Report - Reporting Period Ending: March 30, 2022 Principal Investigator: Jon Peha Status: Active Start Date: July 1, 2021 End Date: June 30, 2022 Research Type: Advanced Grant Type: Research Grant Program: FAST Act - Mobility National (2016 - 2022) Grant Cycle: 2021 Mobility UTC Progress Report (Last Updated: April 6, 2022, 6:22 a.m.) % Project Completed to Date: 10 % Grant Award Expended: 0 % Match Expended & Document: 50 USDOT Requirements Accomplishments The objective of this project is to explore spectrum management approaches that would make it possible to support many important goals for connected vehicles despite the fact that the Federal Communication Commission has recently reduced the spectrum available for this purpose by 60%, thereby creating spectrum scarcity. In particular, we consider approaches in which connected vehicles make use of both spectrum dedicated exclusively to intelligent transportation systems and spectrum that must be shared with other kinds of wireless systems that can be sources of significant interference. Our primary accomplishment was to begin making progress on novel algorithms for V2X transmitters that are designed to make use of multiple spectrum bands that have very different interference characteristics, i.e. some may be subject to interference from devices that do not follow V2X protocols for interference avoidance. This project also created opportunities for professional development. Two students worked on this project: a PhD student in the Carnegie Mellon Dept. of Engineering and Public Policy, and an MS student in the Carnegie Mellon Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The PI has taught 43 students about connected vehicles in a graduate course at Carnegie Mellon. Impacts This research is intended to support informed decisions by policymakers on spectrum decisions related to connected vehicles. Those decisions ultimately fall to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). We have strengthened technology transfer to the FCC. The PI has joined the FCC’s Technological Advisory Counsel (TAC), including the subcommittee of the TAC that has been tasked by the FCC with considering the communications requirements of connected vehicles. Other We made progress in the invention of a novel way for intelligent transportation systems to make effective use of both spectrum dedicated to connected vehicles and spectrum that is shared with other kinds of wireless systems. Our novel band selection algorithms intelligently determine which packets and packet streams should be transmitted over which spectrum band. In the future, we will assess these algorithms quantitatively. Outcomes New Partners None Issues It was expected that this grant would support 100% of a PhD student, and a small fraction of a professor. Just over two months into the project, that PhD student began a medical leave of absence to the end of 2021 that neither the student nor the PI had expected. In order to make sure that all Mobility 21 funding would be spent well, spending was suspended until the student returned. He later extended that leave to the end of May 2022. As of this writing, it is unknown whether he will return this summer or extend his leave again. We have posted an advertisement for a post-doctoral fellow to replace this PhD student in the proposed research.