On the Potential of V2X Message Compression for Vehicular Networks

The emergence of connected automated vehicles and advanced V2X applications and services can challenge the scalability of vehicular networks in the future. This challenge requires solutions to reduce and control the communication channel load beyond the traditional congestion control protocols proposed to date. In this paper, we propose and evaluate the use of V2X message compression to reduce the channel load and improve the scalability and reliability of future vehicular networks. Data compression has the potential to reduce the channel load consumed by each vehicle without reducing the amount of information transmitted. To analyze its potential, this paper evaluates the compression gain of three compression algorithms using standardized V2X messages for basic awareness (CAMs), cooperative perception (CPMs) and maneuver coordination (MCMs) extracted from standard-compliant prototypes. We demonstrate through network simulations that V2X message compression can reduce the channel load. In particular, the tested compression algorithms can reduce the channel load by up to 27% without reducing the amount of information transmitted. Reducing the channel load and the consequent interferences significantly improves the reliability of V2X communications. However, this study also emphasizes the need for high-speed compression and decompression modules capable to compress and decompress V2X messages in real time, especially under highly loaded scenarios.