A Survey on Semantic Communications in Internet of Vehicles

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV), as the core of intelligent transportation system, enables comprehensive interconnection between vehicles and their surroundings through multiple communication modes, which is significant for autonomous driving and intelligent traffic management. However, with the emergence of new applications, traditional communication technologies face the problems of scarce spectrum resources and high latency. Semantic communication, which focuses on extracting, transmitting, and recovering some useful semantic information from messages, can reduce redundant data transmission, improve spectrum utilization, and provide innovative solutions to communication challenges in the IoV. This paper systematically reviews state-of-the-art semantic communications in the IoV, elaborates the technical background of the IoV and semantic communications, and deeply discusses key technologies of semantic communications in the IoV, including semantic information extraction, semantic communication architecture, resource allocation and management, and so on. Through specific case studies, it demonstrates that semantic communications can be effectively employed in the scenarios of traffic environment perception and understanding, intelligent driving decision support, IoV service optimization, and intelligent traffic management. Additionally, it analyzes the current challenges and future research directions. This survey reveals that semantic communications have broad application prospects in the IoV, but it is necessary to solve the real existing problems by combining advanced technologies to promote their wide application in the IoV and contributing to the development of intelligent transportation systems.