Data Aggregation Based on Fuzzy Logic for VANETs

Data aggregation is mainly used to combine similar or equal information sent by different nodes of a network before forwarding it with the aim of reducing the number of messages. This is particularly important in Vehicular Ad-hoc NETworks (VANETs) where vehicles broadcast information about the road traffic situation, what can lead to overload the network. In this paper we propose a system for data aggregation based on the primary computational intelligence approach of fuzzy logic. The scheme is automatically launched in case of incident, without any fixed structure on the road, but through the spontaneous formation of aggregation groups. Fuzzy logic is mainly applied in decision-making regarding aggregation and diffusion of aggregated information, while data aggregation is based on digital signature combination. The proposed protocol also uses probabilistic verification of aggregated data in order to reduce computation overhead and delay.