V2X Sidelink Positioning in FR1: Scenarios, Algorithms, and Performance Evaluation

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate sub-6 GHz V2X sidelink positioning scenarios in 5G vehicular networks through a comprehensive end-to-end methodology encompassing ray-tracing-based channel modeling, novel theoretical performance bounds, high-resolution channel parameter estimation, and geometric positioning using a round-trip-time (RTT) protocol. We first derive a novel, approximate Cram\'er-Rao bound (CRB) on the connected road user (CRU) position, explicitly taking into account multipath interference, path merging, and the RTT protocol. Capitalizing on tensor decomposition and ESPRIT methods, we propose high-resolution channel parameter estimation algorithms specifically tailored to dense multipath V2X sidelink environments, designed to detect multipath components (MPCs) and extract line-of-sight (LoS) parameters. Finally, using realistic ray-tracing data and antenna patterns, comprehensive simulations are conducted to evaluate channel estimation and positioning performance, indicating that sub-meter accuracy can be achieved in sub-6 GHz V2X with the proposed algorithms.