PMCD: Platoon - Merging approach for cooperative driving

Abstract

Platoon based communication in vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANET) requires high co-operation among platoon members to perform basic platoon maneuvers such as merging, splitting, and lane change. Accomplishing the platoon-merge maneuver is still challenging due to the presence of strong interference caused by an unintended vehicle entering the middle of the platoon resulting in aborting the platoon-merge maneuver without desired joining the vehicle. Previous researchers have analyzed the effect of interference in the platoon-merge maneuver, but they did not provide a solution to accomplish the platoon merge arising from an unintended vehicle interferes in the middle of a platoon. We proposed an algorithm called platoon-merging for cooperative driving (PMCD), which ensures effective platoon-merge in all possible scenarios in VANET environment. Simulations were conducted using ns-3 and simulation of urban mobility (SUMO) simulators. The results showed that PMCD provides the best performance at all vehicle densities and simulation times.