A novel framework of vehicle ad-hoc networks based on virtualization and distributed ledger technology

Abstract

Recent advances of routing algorithms have greatly improved the reliability and efficiency of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). But the constraints of network resources result in a trade-off between reliable data transmission and the performance of routing protocols. Rather than relaying data via intensive routing procedures, the distributed technology can spread data source over multiple cooperative components to facilitate the data access. Particularly, decentralized ledger technology (DLT), which is in essence a distributed technology, incorporates all the participants to maintain and synchronize the full copy of data. Coupled with the consensus mechanism, it guarantees the preservation of trustworthy data. These two key features of DLT contribute a more reliable data delivery. However, in VANETs, due to the locomotion of vehicles, the participants of DLT frequently adjust their physical connection, and thus interrupt their data transmission. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, where the VANET is built upon the virtualization of DLT (vDLT), to achieve seamless and reliable data transmission. In the proposed framework, components in VANETs are equipped to run vDLT nodes, which disseminate data in the virtualization layer; thus, the variation of physical layout is transparent to the data transmission via vDLT. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed framework.