Received 8 February 2024; accepted 6 March 2024.

Date of publication 11 March 2024;

date of current version 1 April 2024. The review of this article was coordinated by Editor Sumei Sun.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/OJVT.2024.3375451

Sustainable Mobility in B5G/6G: V2X

Technology Trends and Use Cases
SANDRA ROGER 1 (Senior Member, IEEE), CARMEN BOTELLA-MASCARELL 1 (Senior Member, IEEE),
DAVID MARTÍN-SACRISTÁN 2 , DAVID GARCÍA-ROGER 1 , JOSE F. MONSERRAT 3 (Senior Member, IEEE),
AND TOMMY SVENSSON 4 (Senior Member, IEEE)
1
Computer Science Department, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
2
5G Communications for Future Industry Verticals S.L (Fivecomm), 46022 Valencia, Spain
3
ITEAM Research Institute, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 València, Spain
4
Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, 41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: CARMEN BOTELLA-MASCARELL (e-mail: [email protected]).
This work was supported by Grant PID2020-113785RB-100 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and Grant TED2021-131003B-C21 funded by
MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”. Mobility Grant CIBEST/2022/207 and Grant CIAICO/2022/179
from Generalitat Valenciana of Spain funded also partially this work.

ABSTRACT The concept of sustainability has been recently extended to cover economic and social factors
besides the traditional environmental ones. This paper reflects on the potential of mobile communication
standards towards achieving sustainable mobility, with focus on vehicular communications and use cases
in smart cities scenarios. In this context, intelligent transportation systems, including connected and au-
tonomous vehicles, will be key for developing affordable and sustainable infrastructures and services. We
start by identifying three current technology trends, namely, towards climate neutral; cloudification and
edge computing; and Big Data and artificial intelligence, and then we examine their capability to enable
sustainable Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication systems in beyond 5G and 6G networks. In the
second part of the paper, a set of selected use case categories involving connected and autonomous vehicles
is presented, showcasing the potential impact of the selected technology trends. Finally, a review of the
estimates of the quantitative savings that could be achieved in environmental-related parameters such as
energy/fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is provided.

INDEX TERMS 6G, beyond 5G, ITS, mobile communications, SDGs, Sustainability, V2X.

I. INTRODUCTION a technological perspective and from the society’s point of

The concept of sustainability is gaining momentum in the view. In fact, mobile communication standards are at the core
framework of the development of Beyond 5G (B5G) net- of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs),
works, and especially when paving the way for the future and the mobile industry became the first sector in 2016 to
6G standards. Substantial efforts are being done to envision commit to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development
and design future B5G/6G networks as sustainable as possible Goals (SDGs) from the 2030 Agenda [2]. This Agenda is the
from a technological perspective (sustainable 6G). Although reference framework for addressing global challenges directly
the traditional vision of sustainability builds around envi- related to sustainable development and the role of ICTs can
ronmental factors, the concept has been recently extended be clearly identified in a subset of at least 7 of them, although
to cover economic and social factors as well. From this their cross-sectoral impacts can be found to some extent in
perspective, a new task for mobile communication technol- all 17 SDGs. The Global System for Mobile Communications
ogy appeared, which is to support vertical sectors and role Association (GSMA) has measured the impact of the mobile
actors to achieve a sustainable society (6G for sustainable industry across all SDG and it found that in 2021 the average
societies) [1]. B5G/6G networks are key towards enabling SDG impact across the 17 SDGs reached a 53% of its potential
sustainable mobile communication deployments both from contribution [3].

© 2024 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
VOLUME 5, 2024 459
ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

The intertwine between 6G networks and sustainability is sustainability-related concepts such as trustworthiness and
being widely discussed from different perspectives [1], [4]. In inclusiveness.
this paper, the aim is to examine how to provide a minimum In this paper, we consider an expanded concept of sustain-
quality of life for citizens through sustainable mobility in ability, and focus on the potential of mobile communication
future mega-cities, which is a challenging scenario framed in standards towards achieving sustainable mobility, with special
the SDG 11 “sustainable cities and communities”. Note that focus on vehicular communications and use cases in smart
United Nations predictions establish that, by 2050, 70% of the cities scenarios. The concept of connected sustainable mo-
world’s population will be concentrated in densely populated bility is two-fold in this article: on the one hand, it aims
urban areas. In this context, we envision that three main pillars to enable sustainable traffic systems, and on the other hand,
are needed to develop affordable and sustainable infrastruc- it builds towards sustainable vehicular communication. The
tures and services: future smart cities, ICTs and Intelligent contributions of this work are the following:
Transportation Systems (ITS). r We identify three current technology trends with a
The role of smart cities and ICTs for improving the qual- large potential to support sustainable V2X communi-
ity of life and environmental sustainability is clear. ITS cation systems in B5G/6G networks, namely, towards
are enablers for achieving road safety and traffic efficiency, climate neutral infrastructure and vehicular user equip-
including Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility ment; cloudification and edge computing; and Big Data
(CCAM) and its potential for social inclusion. In fact, the and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These trends have been
European Commission is developing a ‘Sustainable and Smart selected after analyzing the state of the art due to their
Mobility Strategy’,1 framed in the European Green Deal [5], ability to integrate isolated technology components into
which sets intermediate milestones at 2030 and 2035, with a common umbrella. Moreover, the densification of ac-
the aim of achieving a 90% cut in emissions by 2050, thanks cess points and infrastructure envisioned in future smart
to the deployment of smart, competitive, safe, accessible and cities ensures their plausibility.
affordable transport systems. Alongside with this strategy, we r A set of selected V2X use case categories is examined,
find the aim to achieve zero fatalities in road transport by 2050 where B5G/6G V2X communications could contribute
(the so called “Vision Zero”).2 towards achieving sustainable mobility. For each of
On the one hand, considering 2030 and 2050 as land- them, we discuss the potential impact of the selected
marks for sustainable mobility, B5G/6G networks need to technology trends. Tentative estimates of quantitative
pave the way towards safe, affordable, accessible, and sus- savings in energy/fuel consumption or greenhouse gas
tainable transport systems, as well as improving road safety. emissions are retrieved from the literature.
Besides ITS, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) connectivity is a Fig. 1 represents our expanded sustainability concept, com-
clear enabler to meet these targets, since it allows to add bining the visual framework for sustainable development
collective intelligence. For example, V2X applications allow provided by the Doughnut model [6], its link with the SDGs,
to coordinate traffic in a more smart and dynamic manner and the impact of the selected V2X technology trends towards
and, thus, to reduce congestion. This way, the time spent sustainable mobility presented in Section II. As shown in
by vehicles on the roads can be reduced, together with their Fig. 1, these trends have a cross-sectoral impact in all SDGs.
acceleration and braking, improving the efficiency of traffic Basic elements of an ITS are included as well.
flows. On the other hand, in future highly dynamic urban
scenarios, quantifying the environmental effect of wireless II. TECHNOLOGY TRENDS TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE V2X
technologies and mobile communication systems remains an COMMUNICATIONS IN B5G/6G
open question [1]. Besides, the broad range of envisioned use The sustainability perspective has been mainly addressed
cases of B5G/6G networks and their impact on vertical sec- from the energy efficiency point of view. One of the references
tors obliges to search for an additional reference framework paving the way was the work from Buzzi et al. [8], which pre-
besides the SDGs. In this context, the Doughnut economics sented a vision on how wireless networks, in general, should
model originally proposed by Raworth in 2012 [6], which have increased their energy efficiency by 2020. The authors
combines the boundaries given by the planet with the concept classified the approaches to follow under four main groups:
of social boundaries, could provide a more general research i) Resource allocation focusing more on maximizing energy
approach to benchmark the performance of B5G/6G networks efficiency than throughput; ii) Network planning and deploy-
with respect to society and sustainability-driven Key Perfor- ment to maximize the covered area per consumed energy; iii)
mance Indicators (KPIs). In parallel, novel concepts such Energy harvesting and transfer by exploiting renewable and
as Key Value Indicators (KVIs) have been explored by the clean energy sources; and iv) Hardware solutions accounting
Hexa-X European project [7], with the aim of encompassing for their energy consumption.
In the context of future 6G standards, we can point out the
work done in [1], [4]. On the one hand, in [1], the focus is
1 [Online]. on sustainability as a whole. Chapter 6 deals with sustain-
Available: https://transport.ec.europa.eu/transport-themes/
mobility-strategy_en ability of 6G networks, and technology enablers are presented
2 [Online]. Available: https://road-safety.transport.ec.europa.eu/index_en from the point of view of different system layers: deployment

460 VOLUME 5, 2024

FIGURE 1. Typical ITS system in a smart city context. Doughnut model [6] (in green), SDGs from United Nations (wheel of colors) and cross-sectoral
impact of technology trends.

layer, network/management level, service/application layer and iii) Big data and AI. These trends have been selected
and cross-layer. On the other hand, in [4], the contribution due to their capability to encompass individual technology
is two-fold, but focused on the energy point of view. First, components and the large transformative impact that they
energy models are provided for 6G techniques related to could generate in the communication systems. Actually, they
computing and learning models. Second, the cases of how can be seen as an update of the four groups proposed in [8].
to achieve energy-efficient network planning, radio resource Note that achieving sustainable solutions in some use cases
management and service provisioning are discussed. The par- might require a combination of the three trends, while others
ticular case of AI and obtaining energy-efficient training and might be resolved with just one of them. For each one of
distributed computation is also presented. If we look into the the technologies, an effort has been made to synthesize the
particular case of V2X, we can highlight recent surveys such potential impact into two main enablers.
as [9], [10]. The potential of cellular-based V2X communica- Fig. 1 shows a typical system with communication, com-
tions (C-V2X) to achieve road safety and traffic efficiency is putation and storage nodes to support an ITS. Pedestrians
reflected on [9]. It presents an extensive classification by type and Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) are as well part of the
of application, but there is no discussion related to sustain- system, and they could participate either passively (sensed) or
ability. Reference [10] also considers C-V2X and elaborates a actively through user equipment with Internet-of-Things (IoT)
classification by application, but it includes the environmental capabilities. The figure includes On-Board Units (OBU) in
impact of each application. This impact is measured through the vehicles providing wireless communication to Road-Side
the estimation of benefits in different environmental-related Units (RSU) and/or cellular Base Stations (BSs). The former
parameters. From the survey, it is clear that there is not a are typically part of vehicular-dedicated networks while the
common framework to evaluate the impact of C-V2X appli- latter provide access to Mobile Network Operator (MNO)
cations from the point of view of sustainability. Besides, the networks. In addition to the vehicles, other elements such
road type considered are freeways, arterials or networks, so as cameras or road signals can be connected wirelessly or
they are framed in the context of inter-urban, suburban or even via wires to the abovementioned system. Edge compute-and-
rural areas. storage nodes and cloud nodes are part of the system. In
In this contribution, we adopt a novel point of view and the case of the MNO networks, the edge nodes are part
narrow the scope to the case of future smart cities with a of Multiaccess Edge Computing (MEC) platforms. The first
large population density. After analyzing the state of the art, trend selected in this section is focused on the radio part
we extract three current technology trends as the main drivers of the system, i.e., the communication between OBUs and
towards achieving sustainable V2X communication systems, RSUs/BSs, the second refers to the presence itself of edge
namely, i) Towards climate neutral infrastructure and vehic- and cloud nodes, while the third one is more pervasive and
ular user equipment; ii) Cloudification and edge computing; has implications on the whole system. Fig. 2 presents a

VOLUME 5, 2024 461

ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

FIGURE 2. Summary of the selected technology components and relation to each of the three technology trends towards sustainability.

visual summary of the selected technology components to fixed consumption. For the traffic-dependent power consump-
be described throughout this section, highlighting in differ- tion term, important research efforts have been dedicated to
ent colors their connection to the corresponding technology the development of low-complexity algorithms, able to reduce
trend. the computational cost and thus the power consumption. Ex-
amples are the low-complexity receivers for V2X developed
in [12], the low-complexity and fast-processing algorithms for
A. TOWARDS CLIMATE NEUTRAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND
vehicular massive MIMO in [13], or the low-complexity, scal-
VEHICULAR USER EQUIPMENT
able resource allocation algorithm in a centralized framework
The term climate neutral is a broad concept that includes
proposed in [14], among many others. Another comple-
aspects related to achieving no net emissions of green-
mentary solution is to deactivate system components when
house gases, reduced resource and material usage or increase
identified as unused, considering BS switch-on/off algorithms
KVIs [5]. Reducing the power consumption at infrastructure
and antenna muting techniques able to adapt to the traffic con-
and user equipment, with the special case of vehicular users,
ditions [8]. Further energy-saving benefits could come from
has been in the focus of most of the efforts long so far, before
more sophisticated sleep modes involving substantial changes
5G and 6G, and it is still considered the default path towards
in the air interface of 6G systems related to, e.g., the duty cycle
climate-neutrality [11]. From a different perspective, there is
and frame structure [7].
an emerging trend to implement different functionalities of
When focusing on the vehicular user equipment, similar as-
communication systems on the same hardware architecture,
pects apply regarding the reduction of control signaling [15],
spectral resources, and signal processing framework. In the
etc. However, implementing advanced multi-antenna schemes
following, we review first the capabilities of more traditional
enabling diversity and identifying optimal antenna locations
approaches focused on reducing power consumption, such as
in the vehicle are specific solutions for enabling realistic and
those based on diversity or multi-antenna, and second, we
energy-efficient C-V2X systems in the vehicle side [16], [17].
discuss the potential of the more disruptive approach based
In general, trade-offs between energy-efficient solutions and
on integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) within the
important metrics for V2X such as latency and reliability
same system.
should be carefully considered [11].
Recently, the concept of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV)
1) POWER CONSUMPTION REDUCTION AT BS AND UE and its potential in smart cities is being explored. In this
Focusing on C-V2X, reduction of power consumption at scenario comprising a dense deployment of access nodes,
BSs can be addressed considering two different processing communication efficiency could be increased by optimizing
types [7]. On the one hand, aspects such as control signaling, the transmission rates, and smartly selecting the communi-
backhaul infrastructure, and some part of the consumption cation channel and time slots, for instance, through joint
of baseband processors are independent of the network traf- optimizations of resource allocation and communication links
fic. On the other hand, basic elements of transceiver chains selection [18].
(power amplifiers, etc.) and processes in digital communica-
tion systems (channel coding, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output 2) RESOURCE REUSE AND OPTIMIZATION THROUGH ISAC
(MIMO) schemes, etc.) have been shown to experience a lin- Although research on environment sensing and wireless com-
ear power consumption increase with the traffic over a certain munications have traditionally followed independent paths by

462 VOLUME 5, 2024

adopting different spectral and signaling resources, there is consider specific vehicular communication technologies to
growing interest towards what is known as integrated sens- integrate natively ISAC in them, the technologies that will
ing and communication (ISAC) [19]. ISAC is a key element be in fact on board of the vehicles [25]. The 5G-Automotive
of B5G communications, where wireless sensing capabilities Association (5GAA) has identified C-V2X use cases and
are provided by the same system and infrastructure used for their requirements in [26] and [27]. Some of those use
communication according to the definition in [20]. Such an cases, such as infrastructure-assisted environment perception,
integrated framework is expected to boost the spectral, energy, infrastructure-based tele-operated driving, High-Definition
hardware, and cost efficiencies, thus contributing to greener (HD) map collecting and sharing, and tele-operated driving
and sustainable future networks. support, can broadly benefit from ISAC.
ISAC enables both communication-assisted sensing and
sensing-assisted communication. While in the former the B. CLOUDIFICATION AND EDGE COMPUTING
communication system includes sensing services (using dedi-
In contrast to traditional hardware-centric wireless networks,
cated waveforms, for example), in the latter the sensing infor-
the advances towards network virtualization made it possi-
mation is used to improve the communication services (e.g.,
ble, in the last years, to remove the need for specialized
the resource allocation, beamforming, etc. could be improved
hardware and enable the deployment of software to be inde-
if the location of the receiver is known). Some examples of
pendent of the hardware used, shifting the processing load
ISAC use cases identified in [20] for communication assisted
to computation units. Through what is known as network
sensing include the use of wireless communications signals
slicing, a network architecture enables the multiplexing of
for:
r Positioning and hence environment real-time monitor- virtualized and independent logical networks on the same
physical network infrastructure. Each network slice corre-
ing such as creating dynamic 3D maps, pedestrian flow
sponds to an isolated end-to-end network aimed at fulfilling
statistics, intrusion detection, etc.
r Object detection through leveraging wireless signals for the requirements of a specific application. The new envisioned
programmable network paradigm promises to increase flex-
environmental sensing and extracting information about
ibility and profitability, simplifying design and management
physical objects. For example, to locate and avoid physi-
through, for instance, automated service orchestration. As the
cal obstacles, pedestrians, or other vehicles in connected
following step after virtualization, network cloudification is a
and autonomous vehicles.
r Air pollution monitoring: to estimate humidity or Partic- clear trend in future 6G network design, alongside MEC and
Software Defined Networking (SDN). Cloudification refers to
ulate Matter (PM) concentration, for example.
r Vital signs monitoring: respiration rate, heartbeat, etc. the broader trend of migrating computing resources, including
storage and processing power, to a centralized cloud infras-
can be used for health care monitoring or driver state
tructure, whereas MEC offers a solution to bring computation
detection.
closer to the network edge.
Some examples of ISAC use cases identified in [20] for
Focusing on achieving sustainable V2X communications,
sensing assisted communication include the use of wireless
the Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture can indeed
sensing signals for:
r Beam selection in beam management for communica- take advantage of cloudification and MEC to reduce the
deployment costs of BSs and improve spectrum efficiency
tions, where sensing the location and environment of a
through smart resource sharing. Besides, cloudification pro-
receiver can help to detect and determine the optimal
vides a scalable and flexible platform for the future challenge
direction (beam) for communication.
r Beam prediction in beam management for communica- of managing and processing the massive amounts of data
generated by V2X applications. In the following, the potential
tions, e.g., based on the location, velocity, and trajectory
of these network trends for enabling sustainable V2X commu-
of a receiver the system can predict and optimize the
nications is discussed.
beams for more efficient communication.
r Communications channel estimation, based on the
knowledge of the sensed environment. 1) CLOUD VEHICULAR RADIO ACCESS NETWORK
It is worth noting that, in a broad sense, ISAC sensing can The authors in [28] proposed a novel C-VRAN to reduce
be based on non-radio-frequency sensors such as cameras, the number of BSs through centralized processing and, thus,
accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc. These sensors are very useful simplify operation management. The proposal integrates a
in some cases but have some deficiencies that can be overcome cloud RAN architecture with a data compression function
with the use of wireless sensing. We refer here to the interfer- and the cellular vehicular network. Specifically, the archi-
ence problems of traditional radars [21], or rain and fog issues tecture is composed of Remote Radio Heads (RRH) with
of cameras and lidars [22]. limited physical layer capabilities, a Base Band Unit (BBU)
In the last decade, ISAC in vehicular scenarios has pool, which performs a centralized baseband processing in
considered the use of generic higher frequency systems the cloud and assigns scheduling tasks, an optical-fiber-
in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band and beyond, see based fronthaul to connect the RRH and BBU and, finally, a
e.g. [23], [24]. Nevertheless, the challenge today is to compression/decompression module, where data compression

VOLUME 5, 2024 463

ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

functions are applied to reduce the workload of the fronthaul mind, and therefore its storage capabilities should consider
link. In [29] a framework is proposed to optimize virtualized this technology. Concerning the type of contents that can be
radio access networks (vRAN) by determining the number cached, we can consider infotainment data such as popular
and location of Cloud computing Units (CUs), function split videos, communication protocol parameters useful in a geo-
for each BS, and association and routing for Distributed graphical area [34], or HD maps for driving assistance [35].
Units (DUs) with the goal of minimizing network costs while Edge computing strategies such as MEC and VEC can
considering centralization factors, revealing substantial trade- enable localized V2X communications, e.g., those requiring
offs between centralization and cost influenced by traffic and the transmission of the same message to a set of vehicu-
network parameters. Finally, [30] is an example of a vehicular- lar users in proximity. The potential benefits of localized
cloud MAC framework that aims at improving connection V2X communications are two-fold in the context of sustain-
quality between vehicles and base stations on scenarios with ability. On the one hand, localization of functions has been
coexisting LTE-Advanced and IEEE 802.16 technologies to explored by researchers and standardization organizations,
analyze reliability metrics. such as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and
The C-VRAN architecture creates several environmental European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), as
advantages. On the one hand, there are benefits regarded to a a candidate for latency reduction. The latency reduction can
reduced power consumption, overlapping with the towards cli- be achieved either by deploying local multicast and broadcast
mate neutral trend, both at the BS and the vehicular user. The dedicated servers very close to the users, or by deploying lo-
number of BSs is reduced, so the power consumption of sup- calized V2X servers handling the termination of V2X packets
porting equipment, such as onboard air conditioners, can be at the application layer of the RSU [36]. Note that communi-
greatly reduced. In addition, the deployment of smaller cells cation latency can be also reduced through vehicular caching,
reduces the distance between RRH and users, lowering the since it takes the data much closer to the users on the road.
power consumption and emissions. An important additional On the other hand, the exchange of control information can be
outcome is that the battery lifetime of vehicular equipment is significantly reduced in localized multicast communications
extended. On the other hand, the centralized processing ap- by assigning Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI)
proach improves spectrum efficiency through smart resource statically to different geographical regions (geo-RNTI), as
sharing and dynamic scheduling, while paving the way to the proposed in [37]. Pre-configuration of geo-RNTIs per area
introduction of AI functionalities in the RAN. Note that Big and per service eliminates the communication with applica-
Data and AI stand for the third technology trend presented in tion servers to obtain service identifiers, and it also removes
this paper and that C-VRAN architecture could be fundamen- the step of adquiring control signaling to map those service
tal towards managing and processing the massive amounts of identifiers with the radio identifiers.
data collected by onboard sensors from smart vehicles. Reliable localized communications based on the above
strategies could reduce in practice the number of retransmis-
sions and control signaling, with a direct impact on reducing
2) MEC AND VEHICULAR EDGE COMPUTING (VEC) energy consumption. Besides, both the latency reduction
MEC brings decentralized, application-oriented capabilities and the reduced exchange of control information achieved
closer to the RAN, paving the way towards connected vehi- through localized communications are drivers for managing
cles and autonomous driving [31]. In addition, MEC can be and processing the massive volume of data related to V2X ap-
exploited to implement AI-based applications at distributed plications in future autonomous driving networks. However,
edge devices, pushing the network intelligence at the edge the main challenges ahead are related to the coordination of
through the concept of edge-AI [18], [32], [33]. MEC is likely the different V2X servers in order to achieve a proper and
to become an essential component of B5G networks, although faster forwarding of data packets, with reduced latencies.
its deployment in 5G Non-Standalone Networks (NSA) may
scale badly with the growth of adoption of V2X services. A
challenge for 5G Standalone (SA) networks is then to achieve C. BIG DATA AND AI
a dense deployment of MEC nodes without significantly in- The data volume required, generated, collected, and trans-
creasing the computation power of the network. mitted by mobile users, with the special case of connected
One promising technique to alleviate the densification of and autonomous vehicles, is experiencing an exponential es-
MEC nodes is Vehicular Edge Computing (VEC). This tech- calation. An optimized use of such a large amount of data,
nique uses RSUs to act as edge servers for caching and widely known as Big Data, can be crucial towards achieving
task offloading purposes [34]. Caching of popular content sustainable vehicular systems and, particularly, sustainable
files consumed by the users at the edge of the wireless communications. For instance, the monitoring of actual fuel
network enables a fast access to those contents by any vehic- consumption statistics of connected and autonomous vehicles
ular user without consuming infrastructure resources again; can provide regulatory bodies with a better indication of real-
thus, increasing the climate-neutrality of the communication. world fuel consumption, and in turn, real-world emissions, to
In vehicular networks, caching presents some peculiarities. better assess in which areas the zero emissions target is more
Specifically, the RSU should be designed with caching in critical to be achieved, and act accordingly.

464 VOLUME 5, 2024

 Benefiting from the data availability, AI-assisted V2X information can be exchanged through Vehicle-to-Vehicle
communication systems are being proposed for future 6G (V2V) or Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications. A
deployments, focusing on their capability to achieve, for ex- particular use case of context-based information is the gen-
ample, both safer transport systems and optimized transport eration of Radio Environment Maps (REMs), which collect
routes to minimize traffic congestion [38]. In general, Big estimates of long-term channel values, together with location
Data and AI-assisted V2X systems are seen as the technolog- information [42]. Several techniques have been proposed to
ical trends that will pave the way to an enhanced deployment reconstruct REMs from a set of measurements, such as spatial
of automated vehicles, providing important societal benefits, interpolation or machine/deep learning based techniques [43],
especially in urban environments. [44]. The availability of REMs is envisaged to enhance aspects
Focusing on achieving sustainable V2X communications, of V2X communication such as reducing the signaling over-
substantial development of AI-assisted V2X systems is head of channel estimation, and thus, the power consumption
needed to properly manage and process the foreseen large related to communications, as shown in preliminary studies
amount of Big Data related to vehicular systems. In the fol- such as [45], [46]. In addition, in the particular case of smart
lowing, the benefits in terms of sustainability of two main cities where the mobility pattern of vehicles can be estimated
directions exploiting AI-assisted V2X are discussed. through Big Data techniques, REMs allow the implementation
of advanced schemes based on predictive Quality of Service
(QoS), which could contribute to optimizing the resource allo-
1) ADAPTATION TO USER BEHAVIOR AND REQUIREMENTS
cation stage due to the capability of identifying coverage holes
Currently, different machine-learning methods are being used
beforehand, for example [47].
to model the behavior of 5G networks, with the general aim
Recently, an extended version of the context-based infor-
of predicting user requirements in highly changing complex
mation based on AI techniques is being considered in future
environments [39]. Enhanced AI techniques open the door to
6G deployments, that is, the digital twin concept [48]. In a
the possibility of minimizing the network power consump-
digital twin, a digital replica of a real-world system is cre-
tion by considering inputs such as the temporal evolution of
ated gathering data and models of the real elements, while
the user behaviors and requirements, having a more global
providing interfaces to access such data and models. Focus-
view of the different types of needs for users coexisting in
ing on the V2X case, a trustable real-time digital twin could
a certain area (vehicles, pedestrians, etc.). Thanks to this,
be created thanks to the high reliability and low latency of
traffic loads can be predicted, and energy-related parameters
B5G communications [7]. From the sustainability point of
can be optimized. For example, unused resources could be
view, the application of AI over the digital twin could pro-
identified to smartly decrease power consumption of BSs
vide benefits ranging from a decreased power consumption
located in roads where little density of vehicular users is
of the communication systems (through optimized mobility
expected according to the AI predictions. At the physical
patterns in urban areas, especially in congested traffic sit-
layer, AI also shows potential for decreasing the power con-
uations, and optimized communication signaling schemes)
sumption in large systems, such as in the case of massive
to an enhanced efficiency of the vehicle energy consump-
MIMO deployments in mmWave, for instance, by optimizing
tion. One of the advantages of building a digital twin in
resource allocation and beamforming [40]. We further foresee
V2X scenarios is the possibility of evaluating the scalabil-
advanced AI-based multi-antenna V2X algorithms allowing
ity of use-cases without actually implementing them, which
dynamic configurations, e.g., transmit antenna selection, de-
is a capability that largely contributes to optimizing system
pending on vehicular user requirements. This application of
parameters.
a diversity-based scheme has been proposed for traditional
architectures in [17], where the criterion was the specific ve-
III. SELECTED V2X USE CASE CATEGORIES
hicular application.
In this section, a set of V2X use case categories is identified
and presented. These categories are also a thematic way to
2) EXPLOITATION OF CONTEXT-BASED INFORMATION group the use cases already identified by the 3GPP and the
In V2X communications, wireless channel quality is critical 5GAA in recent years. Note that even in the case of electrical
for safety and reliability. However, it varies significantly as mobility, the pool of possible use cases remains the same, i.e.,
vehicles move from one location to another, especially in 3GPP and 5GAA. Use cases have been grouped from the point
urban areas and congested traffic scenarios. In the case of con- of view of their relevance towards enabling sustainable mobil-
nected and autonomous vehicles, Big Data can be collected ity through V2X communications in the smart city framework.
both from the vehicle’s sensors and from the infrastructure. Note that, under the ITS framework and CCAM, a different
This massive amount of data gives rise to the context-based grouping of use cases could be obtained. In our case, for the
information concept [41]. In general, context-based informa- sake of generality, use cases are defined according to 3GPP
tion can include, for instance, information about the position and the 5GAA. Estimates of quantitative savings in terms
of the vehicles, their speed, information about the scenario of environmental-related parameters such as energy/fuel con-
and relevant conditions such as the existence or lack of sumption and greenhouse gas emissions are retrieved from the
communication blockages/obstacles and their type, etc. This literature for each category. Note that vehicles are responsible

VOLUME 5, 2024 465

ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

FIGURE 4. Illustration of truck platooning.

FIGURE 3. Example of green driving scenario where hybrid vehicles

approaching a hospital are requested to switch to electrical mode to
reduce NOx emissions and particles. constant inter-vehicle distances. Fig. 4 illustrates this con-
cept showing a platoon of trucks. Platoons are however not
restricted to trucks, also passenger cars could benefit from
for a significant portion of air pollution by emitting Carbon such feature, and platoons of public transportation vehicles
Dioxide (CO2 ), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx ), Carbon Monoxide can be envisioned in smart cities, too. Platooning increases the
(CO), and PM. For example, in the EU, passenger cars and energy efficiency thanks to the reduction of the air resistance
vans cause 14.5% of CO2 emissions [49], while lorries, buses that all the members of the platoon experience with regard to
and coaches cause the 6% of CO2 emissions [50]. Therefore, isolated driving, except for the first one, the platoon leader.
reducing the vehicle emissions could have a great potential Vehicle platooning is already supported by 5G since Rel-16,
impact on the global pollution reduction. The performance assuming a decentralized approach where member vehicles
requirements for each use case are mentioned in the context of autonomously cooperate to realize the platoon-related proce-
current 5G standards and we pay special attention to the link dures. More advanced scenarios may be envisaged in B5G/6G
between each specific use case category and the technological networks, e.g., Platooning-as-a-Service (PaaS). This is a real-
enablers that will be required for their successful implemen- time centralized paradigm where the control of the parameters
tation and enhancement in B5G/6G. of the vehicles (speed, acceleration, etc.) is itself managed at
the MEC by the network [51].
PaaS, and high-density platooning, i.e., platooning with
A. GREEN DRIVING
very short inter-vehicle distances, enable significant en-
To promote sustainable mobility and transportation, it is ergy/fuel savings but they also set stringent requirements for
essential to consider the environmental impact of driving, par- the V2X communication [24], e.g., end-to-end latency of less
ticularly in critical or highly polluted areas. One strategy for than 10 ms and message reliability higher than 99.99%. These
reducing pollution is to implement traffic management mea- requirements could be relaxed to 25 ms latency and 90%
sures that limit emissions during periods of high pollution. reliability for a less efficient lower-density platooning. The
For example, hybrid vehicles can be programmed to operate SARTRE project reported in [52] fuel consumption reductions
in electric mode during these periods (Fig. 3), reducing their from 1% to 8% for the leading truck and from 8% to 16%
emissions output. Additionally, speed limits can be temporar- for the following trucks in platoons with trucks spaced 5
ily reduced, which can lead to significant reductions in fuel meters. Truck platoons with 5G communication could reduce
consumption and emissions. Infrastructure-based vehicular the inter-vehicle distance to less than 1 m for high-density
communications are a key enabler for this traffic management. platooning. The Partners for Advanced Transit and High-
Using this kind of communication, vehicles and/or intelligent ways (PATH) program conducted in California in the 1990 s
on-road signals can receive the decisions made by traffic gathered some predictions in [53], where for 1-meter spaced
management systems, which can be run on edge or cloud platoons, fuel consumption reductions between 11% and 27%
systems. Although this use case does not require either a very were expected. The Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calcula-
small latency or a high data rate, it requires the connectivity tor developed by the United States Environmental Protection
of the vehicles and infrastructure to a cloud where effective Agency3 is a useful tool to convert greenhouse gases emission
traffic management decisions, probably based on AI, are made numbers into different types of equivalent units. Using this
based on the collection of pollution data gathered by on-road calculator and considering that the amount of CO2 emitted per
sensors. gallon of motor gasoline burned is 8.89 × 10−3 metric tons,
the fuel consumption reductions estimated for 1-meter spaced
B. VEHICLE PLATOONING
A vehicle platoon is a group of autonomous vehicles that 3 [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-
travel together in a coordinated manner having short and equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references

466 VOLUME 5, 2024

platoons could save approximately 0.32 and 0.79 metric tons
of CO2 emissions per full-tank truck, respectively.
The technology trends discussed in the first part of the
paper will also play a fundamental role in this use case. In
fact, localized V2X communications are a key enabler for
platooning. This communication is needed for the basic man-
agement of the platoon since the leader and the rest of the
members must exchange messages concerning their speed,
heading, intention (braking, acceleration), change of leader,
etc. This communication is also needed to join and leave the
platoon, and to inform the close vehicles about the presence
of the platoon, so that they can join it, for example. In order to FIGURE 5. Example of smart routing where a vehicle is routed towards a
achieve the highest reliability with the lowest delay, context- destination avoiding a traffic jam.

based information can be exploited as well in this use case

to reduce the interference between transmissions and increase
the system capacity. Such context information could reside
in MEC servers to be conveniently shared among different
vehicles in the zone.

C. SMART ROUTING
Traffic congestion not only causes delays and frustration for
drivers, but also has negative impacts on energy consumption
and pollution due to the start and stop patterns of the vehicles
involved. Such patterns require more energy to accelerate and
decelerate, leading to increased fuel consumption and emis-
sions when compared to a fluid traffic. However, smart routing
approaches can help address not only these environmental
FIGURE 6. Illustration of smart parking where two vehicles are notified
concerns but also safety concerns in smart city applications. about the availability of parking spots in a parking lot.
For instance, emergency vehicles can be dispatched more
efficiently by utilizing data generated by vehicular ad-hoc
networks and IoT sensors, such as those tracking pedes- facilitate this integration by providing a centralized platform
trian activity. With the help of AI-based real-time routing for data processing and analysis. With the help of AI-based
algorithms [54], emergency vehicles can be directed to their algorithms, these nodes can analyze the data in real-time to
destination using the safest and most efficient route possible, identify traffic patterns, detect road hazards, and make routing
minimizing response times and maximizing the safety of both decisions that minimize congestion and maximize safety. By
the emergency responders and other drivers on the road. Smart leveraging the power of AI and cloudification, smart routing
routing of the vehicles via the selection of the best route could approaches can transform the way we think about transporta-
also lead to energy-efficient driving thanks to the avoidance of tion and mobility, enabling more efficient, sustainable, and
congested zones. In addition, the selection of routes can pro- safe transportation systems for all.
duce a load balance between the roads, reducing the general
congestion. Fig. 5 shows an example where a vehicle is routed D. SMART PARKING
towards a destination selecting the path that avoids a traffic According to [57], drivers seeking parking spots represent
jam. Smart routing has been considered, for example, in [55] a significant portion of a city’s traffic (more than a 30%).
where 17% reduction of CO emissions and 5.5% reduction of Therefore, an optimization of that search could represent a key
fuel consumption (equivalent to a saving of 0.006 metric tons contribution to sustainability. Presence sensors could indicate
of CO2 emissions per full tank3 ) were obtained for passenger the occupation status of parking spaces while an application
cars. In [56] a Dutch motorway is considered to estimate a would inform the vehicles of that situation. Thanks to this use
6% potential reduction of CO2 emission reduction when a case, energy consumption could be reduced. This reduction
congestion is avoided thanks to connectivity. would be similar to that estimated in [58], [59] for full-
AI and cloudification are two key technology trends that autonomous vehicles which was higher than 4%. Fig. 6 shows
will enable the full potential of smart routing in B5G/6G an example where two connected and autonomous vehicles
networks. In order to make optimal routing decisions, smart are notified of the availability of parking spaces.
routing algorithms require a comprehensive view of the driv- This use case requires both V2I and V2V communication
ing situation, which can only be achieved by integrating data since the vehicles need to access an application running typi-
from a range of sources, including vehicles and roadside cally in the cloud. Note also, that Peer-to-Peer (P2P) network
sensors. Cloud nodes and edge computing technologies can based smart parking systems exist, and because of complexity

VOLUME 5, 2024 467

ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

FIGURE 7. Speed harmonization through green lights coordination. FIGURE 8. Smart intersection without traffic lights enabled by coordinated
maneuvers.

of Big Data they require computation at the edge [60]. Hence,

AI and cloudification are the key technology trends enabling F. COORDINATED MANEUVERS
this use case. The coordination of complex maneuvers among vehicles
could make the traffic flow more fluid by avoiding stops and
E. SPEED HARMONIZATION delays. A recent World Bank report on 5G Enabled Trans-
port [62] presents the case of the smart intersections where
Speed harmonization is a broad term that includes any mech-
autonomous vehicles using V2I can coordinate their trajec-
anism used to shape the speed of vehicles according to the
tories. In the example shown in Fig. 8, a smart intersection
current recommended speed at a certain location to optimize
without traffic lights is enabled thanks to the coordination of
traffic flow, minimize emissions, and ensure a smooth and
vehicle maneuvers. As shown, in this kind of intersections,
safe ride, always according to the most up-to-date driving
inefficient queues of vehicles can be avoided. Reference [56]
conditions. Since speed harmonization reduces the need for
reported a CO2 reduction for passenger cars between 7% and
frequent acceleration and deceleration, it promotes an overall
45% depending on the car speed and the number of avoided
journey with more environmentally friendly driving patterns.
stops per kilometer. A similar result is presented in [58],
“Group start” is a speed harmonization approach, which
where a smart intersection allowed an energy consumption
consists of forming opportunistic platooning groups that move
reduction between 13% and 44%.
when green lights are on, thus producing a beneficial impact
Smart intersections can be implemented based on localized
on reducing the reaction time and making traffic more fluid.
V2I communication, with the trajectory decisions based on
Another promising approach is “Continuous traffic flow via
the massive exchange of information among vehicles and
green lights coordination”, where a sequence of multiple traf-
RSUs (e.g., proposals like [63]), and with the decisions taken
fic lights is coordinated according to the live conditions of
most possibly at a centralized infrastructure element. Coop-
the traffic to allow a seamless and continuous flow of traffic
erative collision avoidance is one of the new functionalities
through multiple intersections along a preferential direction.
taking advantage of this scenario. As a key safety applica-
For instance, Fig. 7 shows a scenario where two traffic lights
tion, low delay in the transmission of data is critical to avoid
are coordinated to stay green until all the vehicles belonging to
accidents. Given the extremely short latency needed, this
a platoon (cars in blue) traverse the road. In the literature, [56]
infrastructure-based case requires ultra-reliable low-latency
reported a reduction from 3% to 7% in CO2 emissions due
communications, because the decision process of the most ad-
to the reduction of deceleration and acceleration of passenger
vanced AI-based proposals (e.g., [64]) would imply too high
cars on motorways or roads between intersections. In syn-
latencies unless implemented at the edge. Context information
thetic scenarios, it has been shown that even the presence
such as video from cameras can be used to make optimal de-
of just one vehicle following the optimum speed rules may
cisions, usually based on AI algorithms. Thus, cloudification
improve the energy efficiency by 15%, with up to a 73%
and AI are the technology trends enabling this use case.
reduction of emissions of NOx [61].
In this use case, like vehicle platooning, AI and cloud-
ification are the main technology enablers. Localized V2X IV. DISCUSSION
communications would enable a fast communication among Table 1 summarizes the estimated average savings per vehi-
vehicles whose speeds should be harmonized and with the cle for each of the categories described above, as retrieved
infrastructure. C-VRAN is a must for achieving highly reli- from the literature. According to the available data for each
able communications and matching the reduced delays that one, fuel, energy or greenhouse gas saving percentages are
are fundamental via edge computing [57]. Huge data rates displayed. For some use cases, a range of potential savings
could be needed to achieve an accurate knowledge of the is shown. The smart intersection use case presents the widest
traffic conditions leading to optimal decisions usually based range of improvement, and shows also the maximum poten-
on advanced AI algorithms. tial energy and CO2 saving per vehicle. Concerning the fuel

468 VOLUME 5, 2024

TABLE 1. Summary of Average Fuel, Energy or Greenhouse Gas Savings for Each Use Case

consumption savings, high-density vehicle platooning (with growing penetration of Electric Vehicles (EV) is currently one
inter-vehicle distances lower than 1 m) exhibits the highest of the most effective solutions towards sustainable mobility,
percentage. Although the smart routing and smart parking use due to its clear reduction in carbon emissions [66]. EVs can
cases show the lowest average savings, a wide adoption of certainly benefit from a reduced electricity consumption by
these services in future densely populated urban areas is ex- exploiting V2X. As an example, when EVs are used for pub-
pected, due to their relatively low-cost implementation. Then, lic transportation, traffic signals can give priority to public
a significant global impact on fuel/energy savings might be vehicles through V2X applications, which could make them
achieved due to the large number of benefited vehicles in a more efficient and convenient transport option for citizens,
urban areas. motivating their increased usage.
These reductions in fuel/energy consumption or greenhouse There is an on-going discussion in the telecommunications
gas emissions come from different benchmarks. Besides, as community regarding whether the path towards B5G/6G is
mentioned before, some of the use cases could be combined, going to be sustainable as well on costs and business models.
as it is the case of speed harmonization and smart intersection. In the case of the technology enablers presented in this paper,
Note that, currently, there is a lack of standardized methodolo- their implementation affects other aspects of the network, and
gies to evaluate the impact of C-V2X applications, or of ICTs even if they pose a real benefit in terms of sustainability, they
in general, from the point of view of sustainability. Savings have as well an economic impact that needs to be traded-off.
are usually given in fuel/energy or greenhouse emission sav- This is the case, for example, of the schemes affecting the
ings, or time travel, which is related to the former ones. It is power consumption at the infrastructure (on/off schemes and
possible to build models to quantify the impact, but with the C-VRAN). On-off schemes are not yet fully implemented
unavailability of data and the need for assumptions, results are in current networks, while C-VRAN depends on a massive
uncertain to some extent. Moved by the need to quantify the deployment of RRHs, which might not be economically fea-
impact of ICTs, the International Telecommunications Union sible. In this line, although our work considers a smart city
(ITU) recently published the recommendation [65], which context, addressing sustainable mobility in rural or suburban
could be followed by MNOs and industry to assess the impact areas will need a different solution, since the deployment of
in terms of greenhouse emissions. This is a very important V2X seems unlikely due to the above mentioned cost-benefit
step towards obtaining a common framework and solid results. trade-off. This confirms that achieving sustainable mobility
There are other factors that are going to change the is not only a technical problem, but a goal to be achieved
implementation of V2X use cases. First, the majority of through a combination of policy, regulation and public and
the enablers that have been discussed in the first part of private investments.
the paper require a centralized implementation. Distributed
implementations remain an open question, but they could be
feasible in a smart city infrastructure with cloudification and V. CONCLUSION
edge computing capabilities. Then, work needs to be done Driven by the growing interest of the mobile networks re-
in this area to assess the benefits of distributed deployments search and industrial communities to start addressing the Sus-
with respect to centralized ones, both in terms of cost and tainable Development Goals in all technological components,
impact in terms of sustainability related KPIs. Second, the advances and vertical applications, this paper has highlighted

VOLUME 5, 2024 469

ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

three promising technology trends towards achieving sus- [10] J. Du, K. Ahn, M. Farag, and H. Rakha, “Impacts of vehicle-to-
tainable V2X communication systems in B5G/6G networks: everything enabled applications: Literature review of existing studies,”
Comput. Netw. Commun., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 122–152, 2023.
i) Reduction of power consumption at infrastructure and [11] Y.-N. R. Li, M. Chen, J. Xu, L. Tian, and K. Huang, “Power saving tech-
user equipment; ii) Cloudification and edge computing; and niques for 5G and beyond,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 108675–108690,
iii) Big data and AI. For each selected trend, some illus- 2020.
[12] O. Goubet, G. Baudic, F. Gabry, and T. J. Oechtering, “Low-complexity
trative related technology components have been described, scalable iterative algorithms for IEEE 802.11p receivers,” IEEE Trans.
remarking their potential to enhance the sustainability of V2X Veh. Technol., vol. 64, no. 9, pp. 3944–3956, Sep. 2015.
communications. [13] F. Jiang, C. Li, and Z. Gong, “Low complexity and fast processing
algorithms for V2I massive MIMO uplink detection,” IEEE Trans. Veh.
A set of use case categories for sustainable mobility Technol., vol. 67, no. 6, pp. 5054–5068, Jun. 2018.
have been also discussed, including how some key B5G/6G [14] M. H. Bahonar, M. J. Omidi, and H. Yanikomeroglu, “Low-complexity
technology enablers could contribute to their successful im- resource allocation for dense cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X)
communications,” IEEE Open J. Commun. Soc., vol. 2, pp. 2695–2713,
plementation. For each use case category, some estimations 2021.
have been retrieved from the literature to quantify their impact [15] S. Roger, C. Botella, E. E. Meza-Sánchez, and J. J. Pérez-Solano,
in terms of environment-related performance indicators, such “Communication cost of channel estimation interpolation for group-
based vehicular communications in cellular networks,” in Proc. 10th
as fuel/energy savings or greenhouse gas emissions. In this Euro-Amer. Conf. Telematics Inf. Syst., New York, NY, USA, 2021,
sense, one potential topic that could need further study is the pp. 1–5, doi: 10.1145/3401895.3402065.
integration of renewable energy sources and energy storage [16] K. K. Katare, I. M. Yousaf, and B. K. Lau, “Challenges and solutions
for antennas in vehicle-to-everything services,” IEEE Commun. Mag.,
systems for the V2X network infrastructure to reduce reliance vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 52–58, Jan. 2022.
on fossil fuels. Another factor that might require deeper exam- [17] S. Roger et al., “5G V2V communication with antenna selection based
ination is the role of standardization and interoperability for on context awareness: Signaling and performance study,” IEEE Trans.
Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 1044–1057, Feb. 2022.
factoring sustainability-related requirements in the specifica- [18] J. Wang, K. Zhu, and E. Hossain, “Green internet of vehicles (IoV) in
tions. These could become critical aspects when considering the 6G era: Toward sustainable vehicular communications and network-
the broad context of addressing the impact of socio-economic ing,” IEEE Trans. Green Commun. Netw., vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 391–423,
Mar. 2022.
factors on the adoption and deployment of V2X for sustain- [19] D. K. Pin Tan et al., “Integrated sensing and communication in 6G:
able mobility while also ensuring the economic feasibility of Motivations, use cases, requirements, challenges and future directions,”
implementing sustainable V2X communications in different in Proc. 1st IEEE Int. Online Symp. Joint Commun. Sens., 2021, pp. 1–6.
[20] 3GPP SA WG1, “Study on integrated sensing and communication,”
geographical regions, stakeholders, and contexts. As a final 3GPP, Tech. Rep. TR S1-220191, Feb. 2022.
remark, reaching a good synergy between V2X use cases [21] G. M. Brooker, “Mutual interference of millimeter-wave radar sys-
and sustainable communication enablers seems a promising tems,” IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 170–181,
Feb. 2007.
direction to achieve sustainable mobility, especially in future [22] J. Kim, B.-J. Park, and J. Kim, “Empirical analysis of autonomous vehi-
densely populated urban areas. cles LiDAR detection performance degradation for actual road driving
in rain and fog,” Sensors, vol. 23, no. 6, 2023, Art. no. 2972.
[23] P. Kumari, J. Choi, N. González-Prelcic, and R. W. Heath, “IEEE
802.11ad-based radar: An approach to joint vehicular communication-
radar system,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 3012–3027,
REFERENCES Apr. 2018.
[1] O. Bulakçı et al., Towards Sustainable and Trustworthy 6G: Challenges, [24] V. Petrov et al., “On unified vehicular communications and radar
Enablers, and Architectural Design. Boston, MA, USA: Now Publish- sensing in millimeter-wave and low terahertz bands,” IEEE Wireless
ers, 2023. Commun., vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 146–153, Jun. 2019.
[2] United Nations, “Sustainable development goals,” 2015. Accessed: [25] C. B. Barneto, S. D. Liyanaarachchi, M. Heino, T. Riihonen, and M.
Feb. 03, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.un.org/sustainable Valkama, “Full duplex radio/radar technology: The enabler for ad-
development/ vanced joint communication and sensing,” IEEE Wireless Commun.,
[3] GSMA, “The mobile economy 2023,” GSMA, Tech. Rep., Feb. 2023 . vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 82–88, Feb. 2021.
[4] Z. Niu, S. Zhou, and N. Crespi, “Greening 6G: New horizons,” in Shap- [26] 5GAA WG1, “C-V2X use cases and service level require-
ing Future 6G Networks: Needs, Impacts, and Technologies. Hoboken, ments volume I,” 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), TR,
NJ, USA: Wiley, 2021, ch. 4, pp. 39–53. Dec. 2020. Accessed: Feb. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https:
[5] European Commission, “A European green deal: Striving to be //5gaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/5GAA_T-200111_TR_C-
the first climate-neutral continent,” 2020. Accessed: Nov. 28, 2023. V2X_Use_Cases_and_Service_Level_Requirements_Vol_I-V3.pdf
[Online]. Available: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/ [27] 5GAA WG1, “C-V2X use cases and service level require-
priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en ments volume II,” 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), TR,
[6] K. Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st- Nov. 2020. Accessed: Feb. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https:
Century Economist. Chelsea, VT, USA: Chelsea Green Publishing, //5gaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/5GAA_T-200111_TR_C-
2017. V2X_Use_Cases_and_Service_Level_Requirements_Vol_II-V2.pdf
[7] M. Hoffmann et al., “Hexa-X project deliverable 1.2: Expanded 6G [28] Y. Su, M. LiWang, L. Huang, X. Du, and N. Guizani, “Green commu-
vision, use cases and societal values–including aspects of sustainabil- nications for future vehicular networks: Data compression approaches,
ity, security and spectrum,” 2021. [Online]. Available: https://hexa- opportunities, and challenges,” IEEE Netw., vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 184–190,
x.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Hexa-X_D1.2.pdf Nov./Dec. 2020.
[8] S. Buzzi, C.-L. I, T. E. Klein, H. V. Poor, C. Yang, and A. Zappone, “A [29] F. W. Murti, J. A. Ayala-Romero, A. Garcia-Saavedra, X. Costa-Pérez,
survey of energy-efficient techniques for 5G networks and challenges and G. Iosifidis, “An optimal deployment framework for multi-cloud
ahead,” IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 697–709, virtualized radio access networks,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun.,
Apr. 2016. vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 2251–2265, Apr. 2021.
[9] I. Soto, M. Calderon, O. Amador, and M. Urueña, “A survey on road [30] F. Al-Turjman and C. Altrjman, “Enhanced medium access for traf-
safety and traffic efficiency vehicular applications based on C-V2X fic management in smart-cities’ vehicular-cloud,” IEEE Intell. Transp.
technologies,” Veh. Commun., vol. 33, 2022, Art. no. 100428. Syst. Mag., vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 273–280, Winter 2021.

470 VOLUME 5, 2024

[31] D. Sabella et al., “Toward fully connected vehicles: Edge [49] E. Commission, “CO2 emission performance standards for
computing for advanced automotive communications,” 5G cars and vans,” European Commission, TR, Nov. 2021.
Automotive Association (5GAA), White Paper, Dec. 2017. Accessed: Feb. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://ec.
Accessed: Feb. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://5gaa.org/ europa.eu/clima/eu-action/transport-emissions/road-trans
toward-fully-connected-vehicles-edge-computing-for-advanced- port-reducing-co2-emissions-vehicles/co2-emission-performance-
automotive-communications/ standards-cars-and-vans_en
[32] S. Deng, H. Zhao, W. Fang, J. Yin, S. Dustdar, and A. Y. Zomaya, [50] E. Commission, “Reducing CO2 emissions from heavy-
“Edge intelligence: The confluence of edge computing and artificial duty vehicles,” European Commission, TR, Nov. 2021.
intelligence,” IEEE Internet Things J., vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 7457–7469, Accessed: Feb. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://
Aug. 2020. ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/transport-emissions/road-transport-reduc
[33] Z. Zhou, X. Chen, E. Li, L. Zeng, K. Luo, and J. Zhang, ing-co2-emissions-vehicles/reducing-co2-emissions-heavy-duty-
“Edge intelligence: Paving the last mile of artificial intelligence vehicles_en
with edge computing,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 107, no. 8, pp. 1738–1762, [51] C. Quadri, V. Mancuso, M. A. Marsan, and G. P. Rossi, “Edge-
Aug. 2019. based platoon control,” Comput. Commun., vol. 181, pp. 17–31,
[34] M. A. Javed and S. Zeadally, “AI-empowered content caching in ve- 2022.
hicular edge computing: Opportunities and challenges,” IEEE Netw., [52] A. Davila, “Deliverable 4.3: Report on fuel consumption,” in SARTRE
vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 109–115, May/Jun. 2021. Project, Tech. Rep., Jan. 2013.
[35] J. Chen, H. Wu, P. Yang, F. Lyu, and X. Shen, “Cooperative edge [53] M. Zabat, N. Stabile, S. Frascaroli, and F. Browand, “The aerodynamic
caching with location-based and popular contents for vehicular net- performance of platoons: A final report,” PATH project, Res. Rep. UCB-
works,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., vol. 69, no. 9, pp. 10291–10305, ITS-PRR-95-35, Oct. 1995.
Sep. 2020. [54] R. R. Rout, S. Vemireddy, S. K. Raul, and D. Somayajulu, “Fuzzy
[36] S. Gyawali, S. Xu, Y. Qian, and R. Q. Hu, “Challenges and solutions logic-based emergency vehicle routing: An IoT system development
for cellular based V2X communications,” IEEE Commun. Surveys Tuts., for smart city applications,” Comput. Elect. Eng., vol. 88, 2020,
vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 222–255, First Quarter 2021. Art. no. 106839.
[37] S. Roger et al., “Low-latency layer-2-based multicast scheme for local- [55] L. Guo, S. Huang, and A. W. Sadek, “An evaluation of environmental
ized V2X communications,” IEEE Trans. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 20, benefits of time-dependent green routing in the Greater Buffalo–
no. 8, pp. 2962–2975, Aug. 2019. Niagara region,” J. Intell. Transp. Syst., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 18–30, 2013,
[38] C. An and C. Wu, “Traffic Big Data assisted V2X communications doi: 10.1080/15472450.2012.704336.
toward smart transportation,” Wireless Netw., vol. 26, pp. 1601–1610, [56] E. Charoniti et al., “Environmental benefits of C-V2X for
2020. 5GAA - 5G automotive,” TNO, TNO Rep. TNO 2020 R11817,
[39] D. López-Pérez et al., “A survey on 5G radio access network energy ef- Nov. 2020.
ficiency: Massive MIMO, lean carrier design, sleep modes, and machine [57] A. Gohar and G. Nencioni, “The role of 5G technologies in a smart city:
learning,” IEEE Commun. Surveys Tuts., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 653–697, The case for intelligent transportation system,” Sustainability, vol. 13,
First Quarter 2022. no. 9, 2021, Art. no. 5188. [Online]. Available: https://www.mdpi.com/
[40] P. K. Gkonis, “A survey on machine learning techniques for mas- 2071-1050/13/9/5188
sive MIMO configurations: Application areas, performance limi- [58] J. Lee and K. Kockelman, “Energy and emissions implications of self-
tations and future challenges,” IEEE Access, vol. 11, pp. 67–88, driving vehicles,” in Proc. 98th Annu. Meeting Transp. Res. Board,
2023. Washington D.C., 2019.
[41] H. Guo and T. Svensson, “The potential of context-aided com- [59] M. Taiebat, A. L. Brown, H. R. Safford, S. Qu, and M. Xu, “A
munications,” in Proc. Int. Workshop Antenna Technol., 2023, review on energy, environmental, and sustainability implications of con-
pp. 1–3. nected and automated vehicles,” Environ. Sci. Technol., vol. 52, no. 20,
[42] Y. S. Reddy, A. Kumar, O. J. Pandey, and L. R. Cenkeramaddi, pp. 11449–11465, 2018.
“Spectrum cartography techniques, challenges, opportunities, and ap- [60] N. Zhang, X. Lu, C. Tian, Z. Duan, Z. Sun, and T. Zhang, “P2P network
plications: A survey,” Pervasive Mobile Comput., vol. 79, 2022, based smart parking system using edge computing,” Mobile Netw. Appl.,
Art. no. 101511. vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 2226–2239, 2020.
[43] K. Suto, S. Bannai, K. Sato, K. Inage, K. Adachi, and T. Fujii, “Image- [61] B. Othman, G. de Nunzio, A. Sciarretta, D. Di Domenico, and
driven spatial interpolation with deep learning for radio map construc- C. Canudas de Wit, “Connectivity and automation as enablers for
tion,” IEEE Wireless Commun. Lett., vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 1222–1226, energy-efficient driving and road traffic management,” in Handbook of
Jun. 2021. Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation, Berlin, Germany: Springer,
[44] S. Roger, M. Brambilla, B. C. Tedeschini, C. Botella-Mascarell, Mar. 2021, pp. 2337–2376. [Online]. Available: https://hal.science/hal-
M. Cobos, and M. Nicoli, “Deep-learning-based radio map recon- 03161894
struction for V2X communications,” IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol., [62] J. F. Monserrat, A. Diehl, C. B. Lamas, and S. Sultan, “Envisioning
vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 3863–3871, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.1109/TVT.2023. 5G enabled transport,” World Bank Group, TR, Jun. 2020. Accessed:
3326935. Feb. 7, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://openknowledge.worldbank.
[45] V.-P. Chowdappa, C. Botella, J. J. Samper-Zapater, and R. J. org/handle/10986/35160
Martinez, “Distributed radio map reconstruction for 5G automo- [63] G. Lee et al., “Edge computing for interconnected intersections
tive,” IEEE Intell. Transp. Syst. Mag., vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 36–49, in internet of vehicles,” in Proc. IEEE Intell. Veh. Symp., 2020,
Summer 2018. pp. 480–486.
[46] S. Roger, C. Botella, J. J. Pérez-Solano, and J. Perez, “Application of ra- [64] S. Yang et al., “COSMOS smart intersection: Edge compute and com-
dio environment map reconstruction techniques to platoon-based cellu- munications for bird’s eye object tracking,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf.
lar V2X communications,” Sensors, vol. 20, no. 9, 2020, Art. no. 2440. Pervasive Comput. Commun. Workshops, 2020, pp. 1–7.
[Online]. Available: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2440 [65] ITU, “Enabling the net zero transition: Assessing how the use of infor-
[47] N. Barman, S. Valentin, and M. G. Martini, “Predicting link quality of mation and communication technology solutions impact greenhouse gas
wireless channel of vehicular users using street and coverage maps,” in emissions of other sectors,” ITU-T, Tech. Rep. ITU-T L.1480 (12/2022),
Proc. IEEE 27th Annu. Int. Symp. Pers. Indoor Mobile Radio Commun., Dec. 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-
2016, pp. 1–6. L.1480/en
[48] L. U. Khan, W. Saad, D. Niyato, Z. Han, and C. S. Hong, “Digital-twin- [66] R. Ruggieri, M. Ruggeri, G. Vinci, and S. Poponi, “Electric mobility
enabled 6G: Vision, architectural trends, and future directions,” IEEE in a smart city: European overview,” Energies, vol. 14, no. 2, 2021,
Commun. Mag., vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 74–80, Jan. 2022. Art. no. 315.

VOLUME 5, 2024 471

ROGER ET AL.: SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY IN B5G/6G: V2X TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND USE CASES

SANDRA ROGER (Senior Member, IEEE) re- JOSE F. MONSERRAT (Senior Member, IEEE)
ceived the Ph.D. degree in telecommunications is currently a Full Professor and the Vice Presi-
engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de dent with the Universitat Politècnica de València,
València (UPV), València, Spain, in 2012. She per- València, Spain, the first technical University in
formed two research stays with the Institute of Spain. He is involved in several European Projects,
Telecommunications, Vienna University of Tech- like METIS/METIS-II where he led the simu-
nology, Vienna, Austria, during doctorate studies. lation activities, or currently 5G-CARMEN and
From 2012 to 2018, she was a Senior Researcher 5G-SMART. His research team consists of five
with the iTEAM Research Institute, UPV, where Postdoctoral fellows, eight PhD students and two
she was engaged in European Projects METIS and Master students. He was a Advisor with European
METIS-II on 5G design. In 2019, she joined the Parliament and the World Bank Group in the vehic-
Computer Science Department of the Universitat de València, where she is ular 5G communications topic. He has authored or coauthored more than 60
currently an Associate Professor. She has authored or coauthored around 60 journal papers. His research focuses on the design of future beyond 5G wire-
papers in renowned conferences and journals. Her research interests mainly less systems and their performance assessment. He co-edited the Wiley book
include the field of signal processing for communications, vehicular commu- Mobile and Wireless Communications for IMT-Advanced and Beyond and the
nications, and wireless system design. Cambridge book 5G Mobile and Wireless Communications Technology.

CARMEN BOTELLA-MASCARELL (Senior

Member, IEEE) received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. TOMMY SVENSSON (Senior Member, IEEE) re-
degrees in telecommunications engineering ceived the Ph.D. degree in information theory from
from the Universitat Politècnica de València, Chalmers, Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2003. He is
València, Spain, in 2003 and 2008, respectively. currently a Full Professor of communication sys-
In 2009 and 2010, she was a Postdoctoral tems with the Chalmers University of Technology,
Researcher with Communications Systems and Gothenburg, Sweden, where he is also leading
Information Theory Group, Chalmers University the wireless systems research on air interface and
of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden. In 2011, she wireless backhaul networking technologies for fu-
joined Computer Science Department, Universitat ture wireless systems. He was a Coordinator with
de València, where she is currently an Associate Communication Engineering Master’s Program,
Professor. She has authored or coauthored 80 technical papers in international Chalmers. He was with Ericsson AB in core net-
conferences and journals. Her research interests include the general areas works, radio access networks, and microwave transmission products. He was
of coordination and cooperation in wireless systems, with special focus on involved in the European WINNER and ARTIST4G Projects, which made
physical-layer solutions for 5G and 6G. important contributions to the 3GPP LTE Standards, the EU FP7 METIS,
and the EU H2020 5GPPP mmMAGIC and 5GCar projects toward 5G,
recently the Hexa-X, RISE-6G, and SEMANTIC Projects and the Hexa-X-II,
DAVID MARTÍN-SACRISTÁN received the Ph.D. ROBUST-6G and ECO-eNET projects towards 6G. He is also active with
degree in telecommunications engineering from WiTECH Antenna Systems Excellence Center, Chalmers targeting cm/mm-
the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), wave and (sub)-THz solutions for 6G access, backhaul/fronthaul, and V2X
València, Spain, in 2016. From 2006 to 2020, he scenarios. He has coauthored six books. His research interests include mobile
was a Researcher with the ITEAM Research In- communication systems, cooperative/context-aided/secure communications,
stitute, UPV. Since 2020, He has been the Chief mm-wave/sub-THz communications, C-V2X, JCAS, satellite networks, and
Technology Officer with Fivecomm and a Adjunct sustainability.
Professor with the Universitat de València, Valèn-
cia, Spain. His research interests include modeling
and simulation of communication networks, be-
yond 5G, IoT, and vehicular communications.

DAVID GARCÍA-ROGER received the Ph.D. de-

gree in telecommunications from the Universitat
Politècnica de València (UPV), València, Spain,
in 2007. Since 2012, he has been a Researcher
with ITEAM with UPV, and has been a Adjunct
Professor with the Universitat de València (UV)
since 2020. He has also participated as a Re-
searcher in European Projects ALPHA, METIS-II,
and 5G-CARMEN. He has authored or coauthored
about 40 papers. His research interests include all
topics related to the evaluation of 6G candidate
technologies.

472 VOLUME 5, 2024