Emerging client-server and ad-hoc approach in inter-vehicle communication platform

Integrating different communication approaches in an inter-vehicle communication platform to guarantee continuous and reliable communication between the communicating vehicles is an inherently challenging task. It also requires very good functionality of each communication approach, transition mechanisms between these approaches and adaptation between their communicating functions. We present an inter-vehicle communication platform in which the client-server and ad-hoc communication approaches have been integrated. This platform, called client-server ad-hoc (CSAH) platform, requires a host to allocate IP addresses dynamically to the communicating vehicles which are equipped with a computer controlled IEEE 802.11b radio modem, GPS, GSM modem and camera. Our platform maintains a high quality of communication and a guaranteed reliable transition from client-server to ad-hoc communication. We present the results of some simulation experiments, showing that the two communication approaches have been merged very well to work together in one communication unit.