On Infostation Density of Vehicular Networks
Vinod Kone
Haitao Zheng
Antony Rowstron
Ben Y. Zhao
5th Annual International Wireless Internet Conference (WICON 2010)
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Paper Abstract
Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Roadside communications are going to
become an indispensable part of the modern day automotive experience. For
people on the move, vehicular networks can provide critical network
connectivity and access to real-time information. Infostations play a vital
role in these networks by acting as gateways to the Internet and by
extending network connectivity. In this context, an important question is
"What is the minimum number of infostations that need to be deployed in an
area in order to support vehicular applications?" Optimizing infostation
density is vital to understanding and reducing the cost of deployment and
management. In this paper, we examine the required infostation density in a
highway scenario using different data dissemination models. We start from a
simple analysis that captures the required density under idealized
assumptions. We then run detailed QualNet simulations on both controlled
and realistic vehicular traces to observe the information density trends in
practical environments, and consequently propose techniques to improve
dissemination performance and reduce the required infostation density.