Multi-service packet transmission techniques to support future road traffic applications in VANETs

Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is envisaged by the automotive and the ICT industries as the future technology to enhance the safety and reliability of traffic systems as well as to improve the comfort level of road users. A number of applications such as cooperative awareness, traffic management and user entertainment could be supported by the inter-vehicle ad hoc communication networks. To efficiently support these applications in an ad hoc network, reliable packet communication architecture is necessary. Using the VANET architecture, a multi-service ad hoc network could be developed by employing packet broadcast techniques. A multiservice ad hoc network imposes stringent packet transmission requirements for most traffic types, introducing number of challenges such as packet collisions due to hidden nodes, multi-path fading and the packet broadcast storm. In this research, several efficient multi-service packet transmission techniques have been developed and evaluated for future road traffic applications in VANETs.