A Realistic Mobility Model Based on Social Networks for the Simulation of VANETs

The validation of mobile ad hoc technologies relies almost exclusively on modeling and simulation. In this paper we present a novel mobility model based on social network theory. The mobility model is designed to accurately reflect the realistic mobility of the involved actors in various VANET simulation scenarios. This is much needed as, in order to have a high degree of confidence in the validation of various technologies using simulation, the mobility model (as well as the network model) must act very realistic. However, most of the mobility models currently used are very simplistic. The mobility model being presented is part of a VNSim, a generic VANET simulator designed to evaluate a wide range of VANET technologies. We present several results obtained using this mobility model. The results show that the presented mobility model offers a good approximation of real-world movement patterns.