Analysis of Routing Protocols in Vehicular Ad Hoc Network Applications

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are self-organizing, self-healing networks that provide wireless communication among vehicles and roadside equipment. Providing safety and comfort for drivers and passengers is a promising goal of these networks. Designing an appropriate routing protocol according to the network application is one of the essential requirements for implementing a successful vehicular network. In this paper, we report the results of a study on routing protocols related to vehicular applications and their communication needs. In general, all VANET communications can be implemented by either unicast or multicast routing protocols. The results of the study showed that multicast protocols, including geocast and mobility-based routing, are more promising than others for fulfilling the application requirements and, consequently. more research of these protocols is needed.