Impact of desynchronization problem in 1609.4/WAVE multi-channel operation

The development of Intelligent Transportation Systems comprises a large number of research areas among which vehicular networks (VANET) is one of the main areas. For that reason, it is necessary to develop standards designed specifically for vehicular networks aiming at the best use of their resources. In order to do this, the Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) was developed to enable wireless access in the vehicular environment. The WAVE architecture is based on a multi-channel operation, where only one channel is active at a given time and each channel is used for certain kind of applications. For this, a switching channel mechanism is required, but, due the use of only one antenna, this switching channel mechanism can introduce an undesirable effect that allows different vehicles to transmit simultaneously, resulting in collisions. Due to this, this paper presents an overview about the desynchronization problem and shows its impact in the VANET communication protocols. Simulations showed the negative impact of the desynchronization problem in the performance of transmissions in vehicular environment.