60 GHz Wi-Fi As A Tractor-Trailer Wireless Harness

TL;DR

This paper explores using 60 GHz Wi-Fi as a wireless communication link between tractor and trailer, enhancing bandwidth, reducing complexity, and enabling automation of hitching processes with stable performance demonstrated via a testbed.

Contribution

It introduces a wireless harness solution using 60 GHz Wi-Fi and Named Data Networking for tractor-trailer communication, improving automation and reducing wiring complexity.

Findings

Stable communication performance with 802.11ac and NDN protocols.

Wireless harness simplifies trailer hitching and unhitching.

Enhanced bandwidth supports additional sensors and features.

Abstract

Reverse driving a truck is a challenging task for human drivers and self-driving software due to the lack for sensors on the trailer. Self-driving and conventional trucks have an increasing need to replace the legacy communication channels between the truck and the trailer to accommodate bandwidth and latency requirements when more sensors and features are added to the trailer to support driver assist features or self-driving functions, in addition to the need of automating the tractor-trailer hitching and unhitching, which is a complex process when using wires and connectors for communication between the truck and the trailer. In this paper, we address using a wireless harness between the tractor and the trailer based on Wi-Fi, in addition to discussing using Named Data networking protocol for communication between the truck and the trailer including handling interest and data packets. A Testbed is used to evaluate communicating different data types from one device to three devices over 802.11ac and it indicated a stable communication performance when Named Data Networking and Data Distribution Service were used. Using a wireless harness will ease the automation of trailer hitching and unhitching process and will eliminate the need for communication wires or connectors between the tractor and the trailers, therefore, reducing the complexity of the process.