Measuring the performance of IEEE 802.11p using ns-2 simulator for vehicular networks

The 802.11p protocol, also known as wireless access for the vehicular environment (WAVE), has recently gained momentum in the area of research and development. The WAVE protocol provides enhancements to the physical (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the existing 802.11 wireless standards. These enhancements are required to support the intelligent transportation systems (ITS) initiatives of the US Department of Transportation regarding vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, and infrastructure-to-vehicle communication. Many research groups have contributed to the development of the protocol. Many of the same individuals have worked to extend the ns-2 network simulator to correctly simulate wireless mobile networking, specifically vehicle adhoc networks (VANETs). The objective of this research project is to measure the performance of the WAVE protocol at the MAC layer, using the ns-2 simulator. Specifically, the simulations measure aggregate throughput, average delay, and packet loss metrics.