Data rate selection in WBSS-based IEEE 802.11p/WAVE vehicular ad hoc networks

The upcoming IEEE 802.11p/WAVE (Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment) standard is intended to deliver both safety and non-safety applications to vehicles on the roads. Despite the massive research effort related to the design of reliable and timely schemes for dissemination of safety messages, only a few works have investigated on-the-road delivery of non-safety applications, such as comfort and entertainment (e.g., multimedia, web browsing, e-maps), whose performance strongly depends on the throughput a vehicular ad hoc network can sustain. In this paper, we focus on the analysis and design of data rate selection policies for the effective transport of non-safety applications over vehicular ad hoc networks by considering the WAVE standard features and capabilities. The proposed position-aware solution improves the performances of applications delivered over the service channels, without incurring in any overhead.