Introduction of a new vehicular test environment for validation of communication based systems

Radio based communication and driving assistance systems for vehicular applications aim to increase traffic safety, energy and comfort. To ensure a holistic functionality, upcoming systems must be - particularly in an early development stage - validated in a real world environment without using public roads. For this reason, in this paper we present a new vehicular test environment for urban purposes that offers a challenging validation of communication systems by providing a facility which is adapted close to reality. We offer communication infrastructure dedicated for V2X (ITS-G5) and for cellular mobile radio (LTE). Buildings constructed from modular concrete bricks guarantee realistic propagation effects and flexible creation of various building types in terms of inter-building distance, height and facade heterogeneity.