Abstract

An Integrated Mobility and Traffic Model for Vehicular Wireless Networks

David R. Choffnes and Fabián E. Bustamante
Department of Computer Science
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL 60201, USA
{drchoffnes,fabianb}@cs.northwestern.edu
Abstract

Ad-hoc wireless communication among highly dynamic, mobile nodes in a urban network is a critical capability for a wide range of important applications including automated vehicles, real-time traffic monitoring and vehicular safety applications. When evaluating application performance in simulation, a realistic mobility model for vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) is critical for accurate results. This paper analyzes ad-hoc wireless network performance in a vehicular network in which nodes move according to a simplified vehicular traffic model on roads defined by real map data. We show that when nodes move according to our street mobility model, STRAW, network performance is significantly different from that of the commonly used random waypoint model. We also demonstrate that protocol performance varies with the type of urban environment. Finally, we use these results to argue for the development of integrated vehicular and network traffic simulators to evaluate vehicular ad-hoc network applications, particularly when the information passed through the network affects node mobility.

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Fabian E. Bustamante Last modified: Thu Feb 16 11:15:38 CDT 2006