RFID-enhanced Connected Lane Markings: Design Constraints and Requirements

Lane keeping is crucial for the safety of both human-driven and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Today most lane markings are either paint or reflectors. Lane recognition can be challenging in low visibility conditions when there is wear on the markings and in adverse weather such as fog or snow. Given that machines need not be limited to human perception limits, one solution is to have lane markings identify themselves to communicate with AVs through radio frequency. The RF lane markings’’ can be achieved through the use of Radio-frequency identification (RFID), a short-range communication technology, embedded in lane markings, along with RFID readers and antennas inside the car. Previous work focuses on tags in the centers of lanes to help guide vehicles. This paper explores an alternative design with tags located on the boundaries of lanes and antennas mounted on the sides of vehicles. In addition to supporting vehicle positioning, our approach can explicitly support lane departure prevention as vehicles can easily confirm if it is confined to a lane by reading tags from two edge markings. We present requirements posed by road geometry, vehicle size and motion, and the physics of radio wave propagation, and discuss how these constraints inform the design of RF lane marking systems.