Survey of Routing Protocols for Inter-Vehicle Communications

Inter-vehicle communications is a topic of growing interest, with a number of target applications under consideration. One significant application for inter-vehicle communications is dissemination of vehicle safety information such as road and traffic-related events and conditions. To support vehicle safety information, a reliable and efficient intervehicle communications system which can meet stringent safety application performance requirements is needed. This paper reviews developments in routing schemes targeted for ad hoc vehicle networks and considers them in the context of safety communications

I. Introduction

Although traffic deaths have declined in recent history due to passive safety technologies such as seat belts and airbags, vehicle-related deaths and injuries continue to be a major health isse. Vehicle safety can be improved via active safety technologies using vehicle safety communications (VSC). VSC includes ad hoc vehicle-to-vehicle communications without support from an infrastructure. That is, vehicles communicate when they are within the same radio range, or when multiple-hop relay via other vehicles is possible. A number of automotive manufacturers have incorporated technologies such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and IEEE 802.11 wireless radios in their future vehicle designs which can be leveraged to support VSC applications.