The organizing committee welcomes you to Barcelona. It is our pleasure to be hosting the 69th IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference for the first time in Spain.

The aim of this conference is to provide a forum of researchers and technologist from academia and industry to present new ideas and contributions in the form of technical papers, panel discussions and tutorials, as well as to contribute to ease and extend the participant’s relationship for fruitful future cooperation activities.

Barcelona is a well known city located in north east of Spain and the capital of Catalonia. The city has charming streets, and is full of life where you will find a combination of culture, cuisine, art and architecture. The old town is famed for its historical monuments, narrow streets and bohemian atmosphere. The city has the biggest selection of modernist architecture; most of these buildings are in the Eixample district which constitutes a unique model of European urban planning. Barcelona is the only European capital with over four kilometres of beaches that are not far from Barcelona's historical landmarks. Our committee has worked hard to put together an excellent technical program we wish you can share with a social program that introduces you to the friendly and welcoming people of Barcelona.

Last but not least, our special thanks also go to Fundación Vodafone, our platinum sponsor, for their strong and keen support.

We wish warm welcome to Barcelona and to the VTC 2009-Spring conference.

On behalf of the Technical Program Committee (TPC), it is our pleasure to welcome you to the 69th IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference to take place in Barcelona. This year’s conference theme, ‘Defining the Future Wireless Landscape’, captures very well the current global situation and desire to boost the industry through the development of innovative concepts and technologies addressing the current world challenges.

To contribute to such development, the conference committee has set up an impressive program, consisting of 82 oral sessions and 11 poster sessions. In total, the conference Track Chairs, with the help of 381 Technical Program Committee members and 2445 reviewers, have selected 405 oral papers and 231 poster papers, from a total of 1140 submissions. In addition, the program features 20 invited papers, seven tutorials, three worldwide renown industry and academic plenary speakers, and two panels.

Creating this impressive program is not possible without the voluntary support from an outstanding team of colleagues that we would like to strongly thank. Special thanks go to our conference Track Chairs, TPC members and reviewers, tutorials, invited papers, panel and publications chairs for their great job and contribution. We would also like to thank the constant support from Sherri Walcheski and James Irvine in the technical program preparation process, as well as the authors for having decided to present and share their ideas and contributions at the 69th IEEE VTC2009.

Once again, we welcome you all to the 69th IEEE VTC2009-Spring.

On behalf of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the IEEE 69th Vehicular Technology Conference in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia. Barcelona has a very long history and has been a cross roads for many cultures, which makes it a fitting venue for the Vehicular Technology Society’s flagship conference as it celebrates sixty years of connecting the mobile world. Each year we survey attendees at the conference, including questions on future venues, and Barcelona scored very highly. However, a conference cannot be held without committed support from many volunteers, and we have been very fortunate to have a very experienced team lead by Ramon Agustí and José Luis Ripoll, backed by strong support from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya and Fundación Vodafone. TPC Co-chairs Oriol Sallent and Javier Gozálvez and their team, who have worked very hard to select a top quality technical programme, and the entire organising committee has worked to ensure that you will all get to experience an enjoyable and stimulating conference in this distinct part of Spain.
A pleasing aspect of this conference is that in spite of the ‘credit crunch’ getting in to full swing as the call for papers was being circulated, both submissions and attendance at the conference have remained strong. I would like to thank all of you for travelling to and participating in the conference. I wish you an enjoyable and stimulating visit.