A Performance Modeling of Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs)

In this paper, we study the statistical properties of the connectivity of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) with user mobility at the steady state. It is assumed that the nodes travel along a single dimensional strip with finite length. The nodes arrive at the service strip through one of the traffic entry points following a Poisson process and move along the strip in the same direction according to a user mobility model until they reach their exit point. The service strip allows the users with different speeds to pass each other. The nodes, which are within the service strip, are able to participate in communications. We derive the probability distribution of the user population size within the service strip and node´s location distribution. Then, we determine the mean cluster size, fraction of nodes within the cluster and probability that nodes will form a single cluster. This work shows significance of mobility on the connectivity of ad hoc networks. The results of the paper may be used to avoid traffic congestion in the highways.