802.11bd – the one built for fast-moving machines
802.11bd is the spiritual successor to 802.11p. if 802.11p was the prototype, bd is the production car. it’s all about **next-gen Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)** comms – cars talking to cars, roads, bikes, signs, traffic lights, drones – even people (with phones).
it’s not about your Netflix buffering. it’s about **not getting hit at the intersection**.
standard finalized around 2024, 802.11bd was developed alongside and to coexist with **802.11p**, but adds serious upgrades in range, reliability, throughput, and flexibility.
task group: officially part of the **IEEE 802.11 Next-Gen V2X (NGV)** activity – no fancy name like “Task Group bd”, but tightly coupled with the automotive ecosystem and 802.11 working group.
key features:
- Backward compatible with 802.11p: can talk to older DSRC radios (very important for gradual rollout)
- New PHY/MAC enhancements: borrows from 802.11ac and 802.11ax – think **OFDM, MIMO, better coding, wider bandwidths**
- High reliability, low latency: designed for **real-time safety-critical** applications like emergency braking alerts, intersection collision avoidance, cooperative cruise control, etc.
- Works in 5.9 GHz ITS band: same band as 802.11p (but cleaner and faster)
- Unicast & Broadcast: supports both – for direct car-to-car and group-wide alerts
- QoS & prioritization: safety messages go out first, Netflix gets the back seat (literally)
802.11bd will coexist (and compete) with **C-V2X (Cellular V2X)**. both are battling for smart vehicle comms dominance – bd has the advantage of **open standards + Wi-Fi ecosystem** behind it.
802.11bd is the smarter, faster, safer cousin of 802.11p – built for a world where vehicles aren’t just dumb metal boxes anymore, but networked, situationally aware systems.