Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 For Intra-Vehicle Wireless Networks

In the past decade, cars have evolved to become very complex systems, offering a verity of safety and infotainment options. This evolution was made possible by the development of advanced intra-vehicle communication networks that allowed for implementing highly distributed information processing systems and achieving significant cost reduction in manufacturing. Many efforts have been directed to improve the efficiency of intra-vehicle networks, enhance its scalability, and reduce its cost. Wireless technology presents a potentially viable approach to meet all of these goals. Recently, industries in general, and automotive in particular, have been exploring the deployment of wireless technologies in harsh environments and attempting to identify the underlying challenges to these networks. This paper evaluates IEEE 802.15.4 as an intra-vehicle wireless network protocol. It explores implementing invehicles space division multiplexing with IEEE 802.15.4, develops an intra-vehicle wireless connectivity diagram with IEEE 802.15.4, and evaluates the performance of IEEE 802.15.4 under extreme interference conditions with coexisting IEEE 802.11 networks.