Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks: Multi-Hop Information Dissemination in an Urban Scenario

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) are, in conjunction with infrastructure-based communication systems, the main part for intelligent transportation systems (ITS). This technology can significantly alter individual mobility by changing the traditional human controlled car to an autonomous vehicle. Studies and simulations already investigated the high potential of ITS with respect to various use cases like collision avoidance or traffic optimization. The critical aspect for these and all other ITS applications is the efficient information exchange between the vehicles. Much effort has been spent on the design of broadcast protocols for a VANET permitting optimal information dissemination under different environmental conditions. We will give a short overview of these broadcast schemes leading us to the decision to develop a modified version. We determine parameters of the proposed message exchange process and verify its performance in an urban scenario with three different events of interests and regions in comparison to a simple broadcast scheme. Our evaluation shows that a single broadcasting scheme can hardly meet all demands of the communication process by balancing between good information dissemination and an efficient usage of the radio resources.