Towards 6G-V2X: Aggregated RF-VLC for Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Autonomous Driving

We are witnessing a transition to a new era where driverless cars will be pervasively connected to deliver significantly improved safety, traffic efficiency, and travel experiences. A diverse set of advanced vehicular use cases including connected autonomous vehicles will be made possible by building upon the emerging sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. Among many 6G wireless technologies, the principal objective of this paper is to introduce the potential benefits of the hybrid integration of Vehicular Visible Light Communication (V VLC) and Vehicular Radio Frequency (V RF) communication systems by studying the impact of interference as well as various meteorological phenomenon viz. rain, fog and dry snow. In particular, we show that regardless of any meteorological impact, a properly configured link-aggregated hybrid V-VLC/V-RF system is capable of meeting stringent ultra high reliability (>99.999%) and ultra-low latency (<3 ms) requirements, making it a promising candidate for 6G Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Communications. To stimulate future research in the hybrid RF-VLC V2X space, we also highlight the potential challenges and research directions.