The Case for a Network Adaptation Framework in VANETs

The diverse communication requirements of different vehicular applications and the innate dynamicity of VANET networks complicate the design of a network layer proposal adequate for all applications and network conditions. This paper highlights the necessity for adaptation of network protocols in VANETs, and describes our ongoing work on a platform (adaptation framework) that will provide VANET developers an environment where they can build network protocols that adapt based on context decisions. The design of our adaptation framework relies heavily on the separation of concerns principle by separating the adaptive protocol in subcomponents, and we model the adaptation as a combination of these subcomponents; for the network layer protocol subcomponent we define specific points where the adaptation can take place. These subcomponents will be developed and compiled independently of adaptation framework code, and linked to the framework at runtime, this thanks to the use of a plug-in platform and component-oriented programming. We describe the framework architecture and how the framework interacts with the framework users, applications and the network protocols. Lastly we briefly talk about the framework's initial implementation and a case study that we are developing to test the adaptation framework.