A New Routing Algorithm for Sparse Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks with Moving Destinations

In this paper, we propose the object pursuing based efficient routing algorithm (OPERA) suitable for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), esp. in sparse situations. The proposed algorithm is applicable for both moving and fixed destinations. It is based on considering static nodes at each intersection. In this algorithm, we optimize the decision making at intersections, with respect to the connectivity and feasibilty of the roads. To this end, we consider the average delay of each road as the connectivity metric, and the vehicle availability in the transmission range of the intersection as the feasibility metric. By exploiting the related metrics, we select the next road to forward the packet in order to minimize the overall delay. We also include a pursuing phase in our algorithm, in order to capture the moving destinations. The simulation results indicate the superiority of our proposed algorithm, compared to previous ones.