Cooperative federated filtering approach for enhanced position estimation and sensor fault tolerance in ad-hoc vehicle networks

The present study addresses a solution to the position and orientation estimation problem of vehicles in ad-hoc vehicle networks using decentralised filtering. Specifically, a distributed filter operating in a cooperative federated structure for enhancing the estimation accuracy of vehicles state over unreliable wireless communication networks subject to uncertain and limited measurements is proposed. The filter relies on a variety of position measurements obtained from the on-board vehicle positioning system, from other cooperating vehicles in the vicinity, as well as from the immediate roadside environment via communication. Direct distance measurements between vehicles, furthermore, between vehicles and the stationary elements of the infrastructure can be used, if available, as highly accurate reference measurements. The study demonstrates how successfully the novel idea of cooperative federated filtering in addressing the demands of both fault tolerance and enhanced estimation accuracy in ad-hoc vehicle networks can be used.