Communication technologies for collaborative sensing and control in vehicular ad-hoc networks

Traffic information systems have a highly centralized structure. Roadside sensors deliver traffic data to a central unit for processing and is then transmitted, with a significant delay, to drivers via broadcast or on demand via cellular phone. This paper describes the embedded communications and Java technologies essential to establishing pervasive' computing networks to enable vehicles to communicate with one another while being part of a traffic system. An adhoc vehicle network is then put forward to enable vehicles to continuously add new nodes as vehicles comes within range. By keeping all nodes within pervasive adhoc network updated in real time, tactics and strategies can be formed and updated as traffic situation changes to ensure maximum flow of vehicles. We would like to offer the term "collaborative sensing and control" (CSC) as a term describing the purpose and phenomenon of new generation of wireless networks where the set of all traffic participants generates the data (not just a single node), processes the data and generates the first layer of local traffic control.