Internet Integration of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Self-organizing ad hoc networks are one of the hottest key technologies for future vehicular services and applications. In order to provide Internet services in such scenarios, the ad hoc networks must be integrated into the Internet, which is not possible with existing communication protocols. The MOCCA architecture described in this contribution is a novel approach for the Internet integration of vehicular ad hoc networks. MOCCA introduces a proxy-based communication architecture which hides the inherent characteristics of the vehicular ad hoc networks and which provides efficient communication between vehicles and Internet. Therefore, MOCCA supports the mobility of the vehicle, utilizes heterogeneity in the communication environment, and provides an efficient data transport at the transport layer. An important characteristic of MOCCA is the strong interaction between the protocols and mechanisms deployed in order to achieve efficiency and scalability. The evaluation using typical vehicular communication models shows that MOCCA is able to highly improve communication between vehicular ad hoc networks and the Internet.