DRL-Based RAT Selection in a Hybrid Vehicular Communication Network

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid vehicular communication system utilizing DRL for mode selection, significantly improving reliability and resource efficiency in V2X applications like platooning.

Contribution

It proposes a scalable hybrid architecture and a DRL-based mode selection algorithm to enhance V2X communication performance beyond existing technologies.

Findings

Packet reception rate increased by up to 30%

Resource consumption reduced by 20%

Hybrid architecture outperforms static and MCDM strategies

Abstract

Cooperative intelligent transport systems rely on a set of Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) applications to enhance road safety. Emerging new V2X applications like Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADASs) and Connected Autonomous Driving (CAD) applications depend on a significant amount of shared data and require high reliability, low end-to-end (E2E) latency, and high throughput. However, present V2X communication technologies such as ITS-G5 and C-V2X (Cellular V2X) cannot satisfy these requirements alone. In this paper, we propose an intelligent, scalable hybrid vehicular communication architecture that leverages the performance of multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) to meet the needs of these applications. Then, we propose a communication mode selection algorithm based on Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) to maximize the network's reliability while limiting resource consumption. Finally, we assess our work using the platooning scenario that requires high reliability. Numerical results reveal that the hybrid vehicular communication architecture has the potential to enhance the packet reception rate (PRR) by up to 30% compared to both the static RAT selection strategy and the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) selection algorithm. Additionally, it improves the efficiency of the redundant communication mode by 20% regarding resource consumption