Exploiting the inherent connectivity of urban mobile backbones using the P-DSDV routing protocol

Abstract

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are mobile networks where the communication is established among vehicles (V2V) and/or roadside units (V2I). In these networks, the main challenges of the communication are related to problems of connectivity, and the consequent worsening of the routing protocol's performance by the starting of a new route discovery procedure. Many studies claim that the use of fixed infrastructure with classic routing protocols may provide connectivity and allow the use of VANETs. However, high deployment and maintenance costs in these networks make them unpractical most of the times. In many big cities, public transport buses travel through exclusive lanes with relatively regular schedules. This fact can be used to establish a cheap and reliable wireless communication infrastructure (called MOB-NET). This paper proposes the P-DSDV, a proactive routing protocol which prioritizes the buses of MOB-NET. The P-DSDV considers a route selection metric which takes into account the characteristics of the mobile nodes. Simulation results indicate the benefits of the pair P-DSDV/MOB-NET in networks with low connectivity (density ≤ 60 vehicles/km2). The average gains obtained were 85% in packet delivery rate and 60% in throughput.