Design of Secure and Application-Oriented VANETs

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are important components of Intelligent Transportation Systems. The main benefit of VANET communication is seen in active safety systems that increase passenger safety by exchanging warning messages between vehicles. Other applications and private services are also permitted in order to lower the cost and to encourage VANET deployment and adoption. Security is one of the major challenges that must be addressed before VANETs can be successfully deployed. Another crucial issue is support of different applications and services in VANETs. In this paper we propose a secure and application-oriented network design framework for VANETs. We consider both security requirements of the communications and other requirements of potential VANET applications and services. The proposed framework consists of two basic components: an application-aware control scheme and a unified routing scheme. We also study a number of key enabling technologies that are important to a practical VANET. Our study provides a guideline for the design of a more secure and practical VANET.