  Due to the increasing number of sensors deployed in modern vehicles,
Intra-Vehicular Wireless Sensor Networks (IVWSNs) have recently received a lot
of attention in the automotive industry as they can reduce the amount of wiring
harness inside a vehicle. By removing the wires, car manufacturers can reduce
the weight of a vehicle and improve engine performance, fuel economy, and
reliability. In addition to these direct benefits, an IVWSN is a versatile
platform that can support other vehicular applications as well. An example
application, known as a Side Blind Zone Alert (SBZA) system, which monitors the
blind zone of the vehicle and alerts the driver in a timely manner to prevent
collisions, is discussed in this paper. The performance of the IVWSN-based SBZA
system is evaluated via real experiments conducted on two test vehicles. Our
results show that the proposed system can achieve approximately 95% to 99%
detection rate with less than 15% false alarm rate. Compared to commercial
systems using radars or cameras, the main benefit of the IVWSN-based SBZA is
substantially lower cost.
