A General and Practical Framework for Realization of SDN-based Vehicular Networks

With the recent developments of communication technologies surrounding vehicles, we will be witnessing the simultaneous availability of multiple on-board communication interfaces on vehicles. While most of the current interfaces already include Bluetooth, WiFi, and LTE, they will be augmented further by IEEE 802.11p and the 5G interfaces, which will serve for safety, maintenance, and infotainment applications. However, dynamic management of interfaces depending on application needs will become a significant issue that can be best addressed by Software Defined Networking (SDN) technology. While SDN-based vehicular networks have been promoted previously, none of these works dealt with their practical challenges. In this paper, we propose and develop a practical framework that will realize SDN-based vehicular networks for a wide range of applications. Through this framework, we demonstrate a platoon example which demonstrates the use of SDN for quick and efficient multi-hop messaging. The route from source vehicle to destination is computed with the help of the SDN Controller to transmit the Beacon Safety Messages through Road Side Units (RSUs) at the MAC layer without relying on IP for proper platooning operations. The results show the efficiency of the SDN-based approach compared to the traditional routing approaches.

I. Introduction

The number of vehicles on the roads has risen significantly with the increasing mobility of the people, and goods [1], which led to many research on traffic congestion, safety, and other transportation problems. However, with the developments in vehicles, IoT, and communication technologies, vehicles are now moving to a new era where they are touted as the next personal smart devices that will have a tremendous impact on the lives of people through the services offered by their availability. Added to this reality is the concept of self-driving or autonomous drivers, which will come with their own capabilities to disrupt the transportation industry in the next decades [2]. Thus, we will essentially see emerging of smart vehicles as an IoT-like device that is always connected while being aware of what is happening in the surroundings through its sensors and acting with its systems whenever needed.